Quantum Skip
by Daamile
Summary: After a critical failure occurs on LME's space station, Officer K is the only one around to fix it. Can an astrobiologist save Eurasia's pinnacle of Mars exploration with the radio help of Kuon Hizuri? Lots of adventures, romance, humor, spacewalks, zero-g and adult talks. Science Fiction AU.
1. In which I try to seduce you, reader

_Hello dear reader! Welcome to a Skip Beat Sci-Fi adventure and my first chapter fanfic. A Warning: expect adult themes, lots of sciencing and lame jokes. If this is not your cup of tea, no hard feelings, we can still be friends._

 _I want to send a special kiss to Teal, Unicorn, Aikori, Erin, Blushweaver, Kikoune, Cel and JSMMM. Y'all are my muses._

 _Enjoy your reading!_

§

 **Chapter 1: In which I try to seduce you, Dear Reader**

The sun shone, having no other alternative, on the immense, shimmering structure. Everything was still there but the girl outside moving forward, breathless.

"So… uuuuh, how is life?"

"Life? After this blackout, almost gone from this station, sir."

She meant it. Even working there for almost two years now and surviving a few threats, never had she ever witnessed a bigger mess. Everything was still, no signal lights, no drones, no humans; just an eerie silence covering the usual life-buzzing place. If she hadn't been outside collecting samples, she would be one more body floating in the dark quarters.

"No, I mean before that, before the incident. How were things up there?" The static voice pressed on in her helmet.

She took a moment from her hard but monotonous task of connecting a hook to a line of rims and stared annoyed at a glass window.

"With all due respect, sir, I don't see why this is important."

It wasn't. She wasn't in the mood to share with a stranger how she trimmed her hair short every two weeks to try to look like someone else. How she hid behind a hoodie on all obligatory meetings to avoid recognition, or how she feared impromptu contact with anyone on their communal spaces for food and for workouts. Especially, she was not in the mood to share this with her _boss._

"Look, miss, it's imperative that I know if you did or did not pass out in space," the crackling voice replied in a bored tone while she worked her way through the outside railing. "We sent a help signal to LMC, the nearest base on this quadrant. You should know that the feedback was positive; they are coming, but aren't expected to arrive until T-110 minutes from now. We need to test your mental state."

"I see. To convince you, I'll say a word in intervals of ten seconds, Mister Hizuri." She responded coldly, the finality in her tone signaling that the topic was closed.

It was the end of the railing, so she secured the next loop with a hand, unconnected her belt hook with the other and restarted her slow but secure spacewalk on a new section. One could never be careful enough with these things.

"Kuon." Came the reply after a brief pause.

"Corn? You want me to say _corn_ every 10 seconds?" She exclaimed and paused incredulously; that was a weird new procedure.

A sudden, bright noise rang in her helmet, making her flinch. He was laughing. Laughing at her.

"No, that's my first name, k-u-o-n. Call me Kuon; it is Japanese."

"Mogami to moushimasu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Kuon-san." she offered back trying to be polite.

"What was that?"

"Ah, I thought you spoke Japanese. Sorry, sir." She let out a little nervous apology. Of course, she knew who he was. Another dumb mistake. He was Kuon Hizuri, son of Kuu Hizuri, the next big science head of their time who discovered how to meddle with dark matter. His son was her boss, not a direct one, but the Head of Science Division for the entire company. "My oxygen reached critical levels. Can I blame that for thinking your name was a vegetable code?"

"Of course." She could hear his smile through the static. Sounded like the smile of a pampered, pretty boy. "So I guess you said your name to me, in Japanese I mean."

"Correct, sir. My name is Mogami." Anxiety bled into her voice as she got into position for a short oxygen acceleration jump. She only had a little air left, but there was no other way to cross the chasm between the south and west wings.

"That I already knew, Officer Mogami. Due to the unexpected nature of the situation, your emergency call reached me at my summer home. I don't have your files here, I just know what you tell me. So, enlighten me, what is your first name? "

"Is that information essential, sir?" She exclaimed a little out of air due to the effort to hug the new railing with all her forces. Jump successful.

"Obviously not. We're just having a friendly talk to pass the time, Officer." He'd gone back to serious tone now, no more smiling.

She sighed, smelling the burned metal, and concentrated on the path forward. Talking with him, what harm could it be?

"Call me K."

"Is that what your friends call you, K?

Like she had any. Better to stir the conversation somewhere more comfortable than her personal life, since the man insisted on small talk.

"Yeah, you could say that... Mister Kuon, I reached the west wing now, and I'm continuing forward."

"Noted... According to your progress, it should take five more minutes until you reach the life support station. What are your oxygen levels?

"Thirteen percent, sir."

"Alright." She heard the sound of typing through the static. "My estimate puts you at eight percent on arrival, giving you a three minute window for the repair, and five minutes to get back inside safely. There's no need to play the hero and take any unnecessary risks. We received confirmation from the China base, LMC. Aid is coming in T-105 minutes. Is that clear?"

Almost two hours, a tight window to save everyone. She looked inside the station and inspected her anonymous floating coworkers. She wasn't sure if they would have a full recovery if life support wouldn't come back for T-105 minutes. She ignored her shortness of breath, signs of mild hypoxia, and pressed on.

"So... uh... Are you a mechanic, then?"

Right, small talk.

"No sir, I'm on your team, as an astrobiologist." She recited dutifully while hooking a new railing and floating forward. "Our team quarterly project is to create a guideline for growing crops in zero gravity for industrial purposes reaching outstanding monetary outcomes. My assigned species is coffee." She was out of breath.

"Oh, so I'm… What does your country call it? I'm your senpai, is that right, K?"

"Something like that." She breathed out.

"So, not aliens." He crackled back in her helmet.

"Excuse me, sir?" She frowned trying to catch up.

"You are an astrobiologist that doesn't focus on aliens, but coffee."

"That is... correct." She concentrated on her breathing, short, deliberate breaths, and continued floating.

"Coffea arabica?"

"Yes."

"How interesting."

"Sir, it's okay to say it's boring." She yawned attaching her hook to the next section, a ladder like structure. Focus. Connect. Step. Disconnect, connect.

"It's indeed very dull, Officer. I can see why I'm putting you to sleep. We need to keep your brain active... How about you recite the Fibonacci sequence for me?"

"Sir, I'm an astrobiologist, not a mathematician." Disconnect, connect, step.

"Right. Ok. Hmm." His voice quietened and the streaming came to a halt for the first time since the beginning of this quest.

The pause gave an opportunity for her anxious thoughts to resurface. Something was bothering her; more than the burned metal smell of space and the deadly walk. Her eyes sought the familiar shape of her home planet and understanding dawned as she gazed at it in its current position. Earth was blocking the sun, the only visible things now were emergency lights and the uncanny, dooming, void, empty space; the eerie blackness gave her chills. Mogami shook her head and tried to focus on the shining metal ladder ahead.

He buzzed back in her helmet after a minute. "What about some puzzles?"

"Puzzles?" Step. Disconnect. Connect.

"Yes. Since you are an astrobiologist, tell me, what's the protocol for encountering a green alien?"

She paused a second to think. Even with the new scientific discoveries of his father and contemporary science theories no contact had yet been made with other sentient species yet. It was not an absurd topic, but not necessarily a realistic one either. Well, she thought, making a conscious effort to breathe slowly, with space exploration booming, it wasn't such far-fetched question.

"Aaahn... There's no law or policy that I know of... But I would assume reporting back to my superiors?" That sounded more like a question than an answer.

"No Officer, if you see a green alien, you wait until it's ripe." He replied seriously.

She paused again.

"Oh my god." She laughed. And she laughed again. She consumed so much oxygen laughing at the silly joke that she was sure she lost two entire minutes. "That's the worst alien joke I've ever heard, Mister Hizuri."

"Hey, you're already more alert now, so it served its purpose." He sounded amused with himself. "And it's just Kuon."

"Right." She wished she could clean the tears from her eyes. She hadn't laughed like that in forever, well not since the good days with Shotaro. That thought caused the laugh to die on her lips.

"It's true. You need to be ready for anything out there in space. We have been getting weird reports lately."

"How so... Kuon?" The ladder ended and she could see the life support pod now. Also, as expected, her chest started to hurt. Severe hypoxia was setting in.

"Do you hear sounds outside the hull? Or even when you are out, walking among the stars?" He lowered his voice in a conspiratorial way. "Sounds like hushed whispers, almost like they're inviting you out into open space."

Actually she did, but she kept quiet about it. It was just metal. She kept floating forwards, slow but steady.

"Someone from my team decided to investigate, and got some interesting readings. We were able to pinpoint the source."

"What was it?" She asked, taking the bait.

"Starmaids, luring astronauts out into the vacuum."

She almost lost her balance with that.

"Kutabare!"

"Hey language! It was supposed to be another joke, not meant to startle you." His annoyed voice crackled back in her helmet.

"I almost drifted away! And I thought you didn't know Japanese, sir."

"I don't, but in the business world it's useful to know when someone is swearing at you."

"Can't argue with that." She sighed and stopped. "Kuon, I've reached the life support pod."

"Tell me exactly what you see." His voice morphed into something else, business-like and urgent, letting out the fear he masked during their long walk.

She quickly but thoroughly examined the surroundings. Contrary to popular believe, spacewalks were rare and expensive things; one didn't just hop into an EVA suit and float around admiring the station's architecture. This was all new for her. The life support pod consisted of a cylindrical structure bigger than herself, and made of the same chromed steel as everything else at the base. She ignored the redundant systems pinned on a panel outside and pressed the correct sequence of buttons.

"I'm opening the pod. Emergency lights are on. There is a... Hold on. It looks like some meteoroids cut some cables... But this doesn't make any sense."

"Why?" She could hear his critical mind at work. "I know our sensors and shields should have caught any debris. The fact that they didn't is a catastrophic project failure, considering I designed this, but it's not uncommon to..."

"Sir," Her sluggish brain couldn't take any discussions right now, and her chest hurt. "There are no indentations, no scratches; no clue if it came from inside or outside, since the walls are undamaged and there's no sign of how the meteoroid got in here. It looks like someone built the wall with stones inside!"

A short silence followed her explanation.

"Officer K, you are apparently under effects of hypoxia. Your cognitive processes are not functioning as they should. Go back inside the station now and wait with the others for the arrival of the LMC team. They will be there in T-85 minutes."

"No." She shook her head and argued once more with the voice in her helmet. It was becoming a habit. "I can fix this; just the power lines were damaged."

"Even if that's true, you would need extra cables and knowledge of how to repair them. I can't assist you properly over the radio if your brain functions are affected, so I command you to head back inside."

"I'm positive I know how to do it. It's basic power management." She said quietly saving breath. Speaking hurt at this point.

Carefully, she bounced out to the backup system outside, detached some cables, and returned to the pod while hearing his pitty arguments.

"Officer, don't be stubborn. Your Botanics background doesn't cover this."

"Shut up Kuon." She blurted out, annoyed. "I used to build androids capable of quantum computing with my boyfriend. I know how to plug some cables."

"Officer Mogami, if you don't head back now you will be fir..."

She turned off the radio.

Ah, if she survived she would have to do this more times; it was so good to speak her mind for once. She would deal with him later, if she had to.

Cut, transport, clear, connect, secure, repeat. She never thought a day would come that she'd use those skills again, that part of her brain long since dormant now. After Sho's betrayal, everything involving computers and robotics made her anxious, causing panic attacks and a terrible headache after. That's why she decided to work with organic matter, and leave synthetics as far behind her as possible. But now, now it was different. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if the entire Eurasia base perished because of her anxiety. No one would die if she could just connect red with blue, and leave the green cables alone.

And if she got fired after that, it didn't matter.

Cut, transport, clear, connect, secure, repeat. The absence of the chatty Kuon Hizuri in her head made things surprisingly tricky. His small talk left her uncomfortable, intrigued, amused, and most importantly, awake. He made the effort that was consciousness easier. She bit hard on her bottom lip to concentrate. Pain helped too.

Cut, transport, clear, connect, secure, repeat. After three minutes of this routine suffering from tunnel vision, seven relocated cables, countless discarded hunks of meteoroid and a bleeding lip, something happened.

Green lights popped up, several beeps came from the station, and the panel in front of her came back to life again.

It worked.

"You... you did it. I can see you in the video streams."

A clear voice came from her left. She recognized it and smiled softly. Everything was done. Everyone was saved.

"Yup... I think... You feed communications and life support systems through the same lines... Should change that..." Her voice was tiny, and her chest hurt so much. If she could just rest a little...

"I would like to hear more of your ideas for improvements."

She frowned, remembering their talk.

"Am I not fired?"

"Not if you manage to get into the station in the next 80 seconds."

"Oh yeah... Oxygen..."

She floated to the station's nearest hatch, connected her hook and pressed the right sequence. Ever so slowly, the hatch opened. She floated inside and concentrated on not sleeping, while the room recompressed.

Finally, air.

As fast as her aching chest allowed, she opened the second hatch, took off her helmet, unfastened the impossibly bright pink jacket, and exposed her herself to the oxygen rich room.

She inhaled a long, deep breath free of burned metal smell.

It was fine.

Everything was fine.

Around her, officers from the life support team and the one girl she knew, Aanya, were waking up, spinning around, and looking confused. She laughed out and breathed hard again. Her tank top was nasty, sweat floated around her in disgusting little pools, what little hair she had was plastered to her head, and blood from her lips gathered in front of her eyes. It didn't matter; she was alive and everyone else was too.

Take that, meteoroids.

The meteoroids! She floated back to her bright pink jacket in search of sample that her sluggish mind somehow remembered to gather. This rock, it was strange. She was no geologist, but she didn't know what type of environmental conditions allowed the glassy black and white rock to grow in such an unusual pattern. As she brought it closer to her face, it vibrated softly, emitting an odd noise.

Almost like humming.

A screen she didn't notice before popped up in front of her. On it, a handsome, blonde man with green eyes looked down. He was sitting in a luxurious apartment, she could tell by the paintings in the large room, and if not by the horrible handmade scarf, he looked every bit like the perfect son of a world famous celebrity. Not a Head of Science Division. As he looked at her, there was no recognition in his eyes, just a calm smile. This was the signal she was looking for. She allowed herself to relax a little more.

"Officer Mogami, you did it." It was so weird to connect that crackling static voice to a normal head and body.

"Mister Hizuri, I suppose I did." She replied, smiling.

"Is that the meteoroid?" He tilted his head and nodded in her direction.

"Yeah, it's a weird one. You can ask LMC to take pictures and run a full report on the panel. I just removed the ones that were interfering with power."

"I'll see that it gets done." He looked to his left, and she caught a glimpse of another figure, passing by with a phone in his hands. "What do you think it is?" His smart eyes inquired of her. She felt uncomfortable.

"I don't know." She looked back at her hands and brought the rock to her ears. "It almost sounds... it almost sounds like it's humming."

"Well, that settles it." He got up and clapped his hands." My forced vacation is over. I'm going up to investigate this."

Her smile got wider and she gave out a small chuckle. She could spot a fellow workaholic when she saw one.

"So I'll begin the examination myself and have a preliminary report ready for you, Mister Hizuri." She saluted to the screen.

"I'll make sure to contact you regarding that. And it is Kuon, I told you before." He smiled, a flashy and pretty thing that almost broke her heart on the spot. "You better remember my first name when I run a quality test on your coffee crops, Officer."

She nodded, spun around and started to float towards her station. What a dangerous thing; he could kill someone with that pretty smile. In the future, she would make sure to take his calls on voice mode only.

§

 **That's it for the first chapter, hope to see y'all around for the next one!**

 **Science Corner: Apparently many people perceive the smell of space differently. While most agree that it is something sweet, my favorite description came from astronaut Scott Kelly: "Space itself has a very unique smell, kind of like burning metal. When a volume was previously at vacuum, like after a spacewalk or a resupply ship arriving, when you open the hatch you can smell it." he wrote.**


	2. In which I tell you this AU rules

Chapter 2: In which I tell you this AU rules; We're keeping the pink

"Look who it is, my favorite grumpy scientist!" Lory Takarada smiled and spread his arms invitingly.

Kuon looked incredulous at him for a long moment, sighed, and settled on closing the curtains. He wasn't the hugging type, but LME's President insisted on greeting everyone latin style, since his last visit to Central America. He could indulge the oddity if no one were looking, but that would be impossible on this cubicle glass room that Lory claimed as his office, in the center of the Mission Control floor. The place was a futuristic building on Tokyo downtown, all glass, and steel like the space station it controlled on Earth's Orbit. The only difference was that the cables didn't float here, and work was never sufficient enough a distraction. After the door was closed and privacy was established, Kuon stepped forward and awkwardly hugged the man back.

"All scientists are grumpy, Lory. How are things with the shareholders?"

"Ah, mostly fine," he patted his back. "Stocks fell for a few hours, but we're already back on business! We concluded Pakistan's expansion plan, the China market is still unresponsive, construction on India's secondary launch center is on track, and I'm going to Russia next week to finalize things with our next batch of cosmonauts. Though some concerns have been raised about the EVA suit being pink." Lory snickered and gestured to the coffee machine.

Kuon was too stunned to reply. LME, Life on Mars: Eurasia was a colossal diplomatic effort to unite international firms into a single team. After the dark century when companies, governments, and scientific institutions joined forces to solve the environmental crisis unleashed on Earth by previous generations, globalization efforts came to a halt. That close call made everyone uncomfortable, and Mars came back as a tempting colonialist backup plan for all the nations. Several governmental "Life on Mars" enterprises started to pop up. Russians (LMR), Americans (LMUSA), South Africans (LMSA), Brazilians (LMB) and Chinese (LMC), were pioneers. Their first and only collective action was to redirect several ice asteroids to bombard the red planet's atmosphere. In truth, the planet looked more of a muddy yellow than red these days because of the massive storm that still raged thought. Lory feared the consequences of a singular governmental effort to colonize one planet. He made sure to start his planetary scouting enterprise with as much diversity as possible, and with the exception of China, he succeeded in unifying one continent under a single flag. Lory believed that Mars should be explored together by earthlings as one race and that philosophy was extended to colors. No nation had pink on their flag, so bright pink uniforms were the norm.

"Pink extravehicular activity suits? The Russians were not bothered by almost losing lives or billions of dollars, but they were bothered by the color of their space suits?" he wondered incredulously.

"Not particularly, no." Lory shrugged and pushed a button on the coffee machine. "Space is a high-risk business; they are prepared for losing it all. But I must say, K saved us a lot of money and time; I'm highly pleased with her accomplishments."

"She was perfect." Kuon stepped over to join his boss and searched his face. "Before this emergency, I wasn't aware of her abilities. Well... I'm ashamed to admit I wasn't aware of her at all."

"Really? You two are so alike on grumpiness and brilliance that I would've thought you had a special connection." Lory handed him the espresso. "Like long-lost childhood friends."

Kuon rolled his eyes at the joke.

"Brilliant? Identifying and fixing the station's damage alone was impressive, but after a year of service I haven't received a single report of her outstanding work."

"The girl is a catch!" Lory raised his brows." I thought you would give her a raise after the astonishing fertilizer breakthrough, that should have caught your eye. We _are_ profiting off her brilliance."

"Last semester? Was that her too?" Kuon stopped mid-sip, eyes wide. "Gustavo didn't include that detail on the discovery papers. It came through as a departmental effort."

Lory chuckled and brought his hot chocolate, nearly overflowing with marshmallows, to the couch and motioned for him to sit.

"Well, while K excels as an astrobiologist, she lacks fundamental social skills. I'm sure she has problems communicating with her Science Lead. That can cause miscommunications and... allow for credit to go unclaimed." Lory petted his mustache thoughtfully.

"Why didn't you talk to me before if you knew the details of the situation?" Kuon took a sip and looked over his mug, hoping for insights into Lory's intentions.

"I'm not micromanaging your work, boy!" the president tsked. "You lead your division how you see fit. I'm just the international diplomat in this company."

"I'll talk to Guilherme about that." Kuon thought out loud, as he stared at the glass ceiling.

Running thirty scientists wasn't always easy. When he accepted Lory's offer to lead a Science Division focused on Mars' exploration, he didn't realize how much people managing and how little sciencing he'd be doing. He knew how to diffuse power struggles well enough thanks to shadowing his mother all his life, so it was frustrating that he missed this conflict. Lory managed to know more about his department then he. He still had much to improve upon.

"So, did you come here just to check on the status of the station?" Kuon's thoughts were interrupted by Lory's interjection. The man looked at him with a second mustache made of marshmallow foam, completely serious. "We could've talked about this over a VR call. Not that I mind seeing you face to face and all, but it's pretty unusual to fly from America to Japan just to _'check_ _in'._ "

Kuon sighed and analyzed the man in front of him. Once again, he saw through his intentions with sharp eyes and warm smiles. If stalling wouldn't work, it was best to be direct.

"Yashiro didn't find any personal information about Mogami K on our servers."

Lory winked at him.

"So, Ruto still knows how to do things right."

"Why the secrecy?" He set his expresso down on the table to give him his full attention. "I know we always do a full background check and require physical and physiological evaluations of our employees. Why could I only find gender, blood type, allergies, a surname, and a work record, on Mogami K's files?"

"Because she asked me to keep it classified," Lory replied with simplicity.

"And you kindly agreed to it." Kuon's eyebrows went up.

"Of course." Lory rose from the sofa and started to go through each item on his fingers. "K was handpicked by myself, was approved by Gustavo dos Santos tests with honors, and was cleared by Doctor Charles Thompson on her physiological evaluation. Do you have any concerns regarding our judging standards?"

"Not particularly."

"So, she's fit for the job." Lory shot him a satisfied smiled and spread his arms wide.

"I see that arguing with you is pointless."

"Indeed." Lory nodded.

"Thank you for the coffee, President."

Kuon strolled to the door and stopped midway to look back at him pointedly.

"Oh, by the way, I'm going up next week."

"Kuon Hizuri..." Lory started.

The name made him wince, but he kept looking straight.

"You came back to Earth gravity just eight months ago, and before that, you spent three years in space!" He set a firm hand on his shoulder. "You need more time outside microgravity so your bone mass and blood cells can get back to normal, you know that better than anyone."

"And I know better than anyone that a short stay won't change much." He reasoned. "I need to investigate that meteoroid that Mogami and the Chinese aids claim to have _'simply'_ materialized on my life support pod."

"So, it is a matter of professional pride then; is this why you're sacrificing your life?" Lory looked straight into his eyes, all his charm and manners forgotten.

"Don't be dramatic, I'll be fine." Kuon rolled his eyes and was surprised by a tight bear hug.

"You better be, kid. I would hate to be the one to tell my dear friend that I damaged their son."

He decided that silence was the best response as the familiar, numbing sadness crept its way into his thoughts. Were those pretty words intended for Kuu or Julie? If he meant to truly shake his beliefs, Lory would have to speak to Rita. After all, being dead didn't stop the living from talking to you. It sure didn't stop him.

As the hug stretched on into a comfortable awkwardness, Lory let him go and they whispered some muffled good byes. He opened the door and was ready to step out, when a cough pulled him out of his reveries.

Lory stared thoughtfully at him with all-knowing eyes. Eyes that saw too much. Eyes that cared too much.

"Kuon, after all this fuss it's only normal to take an interest. It's even healthy to do so. But if you want to know more about her, you'll have to get out of your personal bubble and ask her directly. I'm not going to help you."

§

 **Hello dear readers! Thank you for the comments, my heart is warm and fuzzy by all your kind replies. For time updates, I intend to post the next chapters in two weeks, it'll be a wordy one.** **I also want to throw a question at y'all: what do you think it would be a good reward for K's accomplishments? I'm accepting cute, daring and nonsense ideas here :P**

 **Science Corner: Did you know some countries use different names to space travelers? Americans are "astronauts", Russians "cosmonauts", Frenchs "spationauts", Indians "Vyomanauts" and Chinese are called "Taikonaut" by the west and "Yuhangyuan" locally.**


	3. In which you grasp how different K is

_Trigger Warning: This chapter may trigger some people. To see a description of the triggering material, please scroll down to the chapter notes. Thanks!_

 **Chapter 3: In which you grasp how different K is from Kyoko**

Before the life support incident, Mogami K had speaking relationships with only three people on the LME station: one amicable, one infuriating, and one antagonistic. Being a lucky Friday the Thirteenth, she saw them all.

Annya was waiting for her outside her hatch: perfectly awake, smiling and dolled up at 6 am station time; a stark contrast to the death-warmed-over look she was sporting. It had been a rough morning. She'd woken up feeling the rhythm of blood throbbing in her brain, and after two or three confused and painful blinks, an overwhelming wave of nausea rose from her core. Thankfully, none of her possessions were caught in the line of fire. She'd jumped out of her bunk, bumped her knee on a desk, sending several small objects adrift, but was able to detach a velcroed bag from a wall in time.

In hindsight, she should have expected that the lack of oxygen would result in nausea and a headache, but because of the previous brain fog, she had no plan to counter it. Ignoring her schedule, she went straight to bed and passed out for fourteen hours straight. Well, she _had_ saved the whole station from certain death, so she was probably entitled to a break. Now that she was up, a visit to the doctor to get something to lessen her symptoms. She was doing just that before meeting Annya's oh-so-happy face right outside her door.

K nodded, her signature greeting - but also the wrong decision, the searing head pain reminded her.

"Suprabhaat! You look terrible," Aanya smiled.

"I feel terrible," she groaned.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I need to steal a picture of your pretty face," she explained, holding up a camera.

"Why?"

K winced rubbing her temples.

"The president asked me to take a photo for the press release since don't have any in your files. I checked. He also wanted me to tell you, 'I'm truly sorry Mogami-kun, but the marketing people will eat my liver if I don't deliver something.'" She frowned sympathetically, pointing to the corridor. "I have some makeup in my room if you want, and though it won't match perfectly, it should help hide the dark circles…"

K sighed. Expecting this flashy accident to go unnoticed was wishful thinking; of course PR procedures were necessary. At least it was Aanya Bakshi taking the picture. She would never admit to anyone, but she kinda liked the girl. Always happy, polite, and taking photos _supposedly_ for a master's thesis that somehow kept showing up on her social media pages. She also had a twinkle in her eyes that hid an odd sense of humor. K once heard her telling her Life Support colleagues that she initially went into mechanical engineering because of a crush, but stayed because she was brilliant. Her carefree nature almost made K smile.

"That's very thoughtful of you, but I'm okay. Let's get it over with."

"If you say so…"

"I do." The way she saw it, the rough look made her even less recognizable.

Anya asked her to align against the center of the hatch and K secured her toe on a floor handrail to not float out of place. Annya rolled some dials, looked at the viewfinder and frowned.

"Can't you smile a little?"

"Nope."

"Alright," she shrugged, pressing the shutter button.

 _Click._

"And it's done! Do you want to see how it looks?"

"No need, I have to go." She said, unlocking her foot.

"Wait for a second, I have something for you." Annya suddenly shoot something her way, and she caught by pure reflex.

"An extra, on the house," she winked. K looked down at her hands and found two vials of shampoo. "Thank you for saving us yesterday."

"I just… don't mention it." K left awkwardly, too embarrassed to even say goodbye.

K floated through the dormitory corridors, still thinking on how to best evade the repercussions from a PR article when a rough, gravelly voice interrupted.

"Hey porcupine, have a minute?"

She ignored it and kept floating forward, trying to not look at the bulky man drifting her way, away from his friends.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," he demanded, grabbing her by the shoulder and making they both spin in the air.

That, was unacceptable. She stared at the hand, trying to ignore the lacerating pain that shot through her skull, and let Mio take over. No one touched Mio.

"Oh? Is that so?" Anchoring a foot to the ground, K bent her neck up to better look at him. "How strange, officer, since I don't even know you. That kind of overly casual address, there's no way I would ever agree to it."

With cold pleasure, she watched the smile fade from this face.

"What do you mean you don't know me? I'm Sergei Petrov. We've worked together for four months!" He ran his fingers through his hair and mumbled to himself, accent thickening, "so you _really_ _are_ a cold, frigid bitch."

In her current state, only one response seemed appropriate. She grabbed hold of his collar, anchoring her weight with his, and hit his big, confused nose with her forehead. She kept her face uncomfortably close.

"I don't know where you were born, _sir,_ but where I come from, that's a very disrespectful way of speaking. Would you care to apologize?" Her words were cold, collected, and formal. Perfectly fitting for an upper class Japanese girl.

Tiny bubbles of blood floated around his big, round eyes.

"E..ezveen-neete! I… I just wanted to thank you for... for saving our lives yesterday, that's all," he said.

 _A fan_. Her cruel heart was delighted.

"That's so very kind of you." Sergey jumped back, eager to rejoin his friends. "I'm flattered, but I feel bad taking up your time with such an unnecessary thing. I'm sure you have a busy schedule. Please, refrain from such actions in the future."

"As you wish, ma'am."

 _See? Politeness wasn't so hard._

"Oh sir, one more thing before you go."

She stared viciously at him and his friends, flashing her best weapon - a broad, humorless smile, that didn't reach her cold, golden eyes.

"Don't ever call me a _bitch."_

She turned away, letting the soul of Mio slip, and pressed forward trying to ignore the urge to scratch raw her shoulder. This was ridiculous, now she was definitely late for her shift. Still, there was no way she could work now. Even if hitting that idiot felt great at the time, the adrenaline had worn off, and the headache came roaring back with a vengeance, almost incapacitating her. More than ever, she needed to see the doctor.

After floating through the last set of corridors, she hesitated before entering the cycling twin hatch room, the only access to the Mars' Ring. The structure was a colossal halo that encircled the living quarter's tube-like shape. All science was made there because it simulated the red planet's gravity with centrifugal force. Like a hamster ball stuck on a stick, it attracted objects on its rim by keeping a steady cycle of 3.7 meters per second. The ring was the pinnacle of LME's inventiveness and normally the favorite place of her scientific mind, but just one push down the hatch was enough to make her insides shift, artificial gravity nauseatingly attracting her body beyond the initial motion.

K gingerly stepped toward the closest and most prominent door. The gravity was faint, but walking was still painful. She knocked and entered after hearing a reply.

Normally she'd have stopped to appreciate the room's stunning view - uncannily resembling a platform into open space - but she promptly sat in front of the graying, ginger man, reclined in his chair with his feet up on his desk.

"A celebrity in my quarters," he teased, swiveling his chair to look at her, left hand inclined as if holding an invisible cigar. "How do you do, officer? I'm afraid fame hasn't done anything to improve your appearance. That permanent scowl is still there below your nose."

For once she took his advice, inhaling deeply and counting to 10 before responding.

"Good morning. I came because of yesterday's hypoxia. There're lingering side effects," she explained. Ever so politely, ever so carefully.

He arched one red eyebrow at her.

"Oh, I thought maybe you were here for a different reason." He rotated his monitor. A video of her hitting a big man on the nose played in a loop on the screen. His next words were spoken slowly. He was obviously enjoying himself. "Certainly, a headbutt may produce the lingering side effect of head pain

All at once her control flew through the window and out into the stars.

"T-that, was an accident!" She was up on her feet again, hands fisted, ignoring the sickening lurch of her stomach. "H-he entered my personal space, and my sympathetic system acted on reflex. I'm sorry, _captain_."

The resolute facade would've been almost convincing, if not for her fearful eyes.

"Hmmm..." He pressed a few buttons on his keyboard, and the looped video expanded to show the full sequence of events, from before the altercation started. "Looks to me that you heard Officer Sergei, ignored him, and attacked only _after_ he spoke with you a second time. And don't try to _'captain'_ your way out of this one, _love_." He made it sound sardonic.

Cold sweat trickled down her heated skin. Had she finally stepped over the line with this most recent outburst? Right now he wasn't just the chief medical officer, but the acting captain. Outside of the president himself, no one had a higher authority on the station. Was he going to fire her?

"Sir, with respect-"

"Sod off, we both know you don't have any."

She inhaled again, counted another 10, and slowly exhaled.

"Captain, I am sorry if my harsh actions and thoughtlessness disrupted the peace on Mars Eurasia station. I promise it won't happen again."

"And how do you intend to keep such a promise? Will you stay hidden all day here in the Mars' Ring, growing roots alongside your plants?"

" _Bastard_ ," she spat through clenched teeth, white-knuckle gripping the desk. "I was trying to apologize..."

"Oi! Language, love." He looked unimpressed, lips curving into a humorless smile. "I know my beauty is distracting, but shouting at your captain is still not allowed."

"Bullshit!" She growled. "You _always_ make me yell at you on purpose."

She massaged her throbbing temples and sat down, careful not to further upset her stomach. He was always like this, pushing her buttons with his snarky attitude and setting her off. Almost as bad as that stupid, blonde idiot. _Almost_.

"Of course," he chuckled, letting his serious act slip away, "you are the only one that would dare speak to me like that. Everyone else is frightfully dull..."

"Prat," she hissed.

"Indeed." He rose, checking her vitals on her watch, an unobtrusive piece of medical hardware.

"Can you please just give me something for this headache and let me go?"

His fingers pressed against her lids, examining her eyes. She winced, but because of the excruciating pain. He was the only person on the station she was remotely comfortable letting touch her, and even then only out of necessity. Maybe it helped that he was gay.

"Have I amused you enough yet, _doctor?"_

"I'm afraid not, this one is serious, love." He opened a cabinet next to the starry sky." No matter the reason, you can't just go around punching people."

"It was self-defense," she grimaced, "he got in my personal-"

Thompson suddenly tossed a packet of pills at her, but the surprise was severely diminished by the room's low gravity, and it landed gracefully on her lap. She ripped the plastic open, so desperate for relief she dry swallowed them.

"I don't care if he held your hand, if he bumped your leg, or if he touched your jacket by mistake. Outside of sexual harassment, you have no right to use violence." He looked at her serious a moment. "Of course, even then, you should come to me, and we can have a reasonable discussion about shooting his balls into space, on a path that would burn beautifully when re-entering orbit."

She snorted at that, but he swiveled her chair and bent forward, making it impossible to ignore the concern in his eyes.

"Do you understand me, love? We are one hundred people living in close quarters until the next shuttle comes back. There is no practical way to hide from the people you dislike. Lucky for you, we're not on Mars yet, so I don't need to lock you up for a year because of one morning's daftness. Instead, I can just send you back to Earth on the next shuttle. Is that what you want, Kyoko?"

It pained her that he looked genuinely hurt.

"If that's what _you_ want, Thompson, just send me down." She stared back, pain stinging in her skull as her eyes went hard. "And _don't_ call me that."

"Obviously it's not what I want." He straightened up and smirked, letting the awkwardness fade." Besides the fun company, you are bloody brilliant. If you hadn't charmed Gustavo with your amazing social skills, I'm sure you'd be a Science Lead already. That work with the coffee _is_ groundbreaking. And lo and behold, you also know how to fix giant space stations from certain death. You and I both know the Chinese wouldn't have arrived in time." He sat back in his chair and looked at her."You should be proud. You are a hero."

She winced at that and got up carefully.

"No sir, I'm just a whore."

"You're the only one who sees it that way. You should give people a chance, they may just surprise you." He gave her a characteristic scowl. "They aren't all rubbish like melove."

She didn't have a reply to that, so she trudged out of the starry room and planted herself on a bed in the infirmary, resting her eyes and hoping the pills kicked in soon. It was almost midday station time, and it was no doubt buzzing with life beyond the quiet of the empty room. It was challenging to stay still, but eventually, the medication started working, and she finally felt well enough to walk again. No one else approached her, probably her altercation with the officer was already up in the forums. It was a relief.

She finally reached her lab by midafternoon. K hung her impossibly pink jacket on a hook behind the door and sat at her desk. The effects of the medicine were palpable, her mind no longer too distracted by the pain to be curious. Immediately, she noticed something out of place: yesterday's meteoroid sample lying on her table. She'd brought it in before dragging herself to bed and passing out. She rotated the porous, glassy, black and white specimen between her fingers, and noticed it wasn't humming. It was wet to the touch and rattled when shaken, but there was no discernable hum. That was odd. She'd have to ask Thompson for the security tapes, so she could confirm whether or not it was just the hallucination of an oxygen-deprived mind.

She stayed at her desk during breaks, typing up her work and snacking on a protein bar whenever she got hungry. Usually, she had no appetite after throwing up, and since she was too afraid of making herself sick again, water and bland food were the best bet. Plus, she could avoid the busy cafeteria. During one of her breaks, the Science Lead found her sitting on her desk, absentmindedly rotating the rock in her hands.

As always, he didn't look happy.

"Mogami, did you file the final reports on the arabica?"

"No, sir." She apologized looking down. "They will be ready by tomorrow morn..."

"Tomorrow?" He interrupted, beginning to pace. "Today is the last day of the quarter; we _need_ that report if we want to meet the company KPIs!"

She tried not to wince visibly at his harsh tone. Gustavo dos Santos transferred from the Brazilian station - LMB - and was an extra pain on her days. Their findings were tightly related to the budget, so if a division lacked results, the chance of the funds being cut during the next quarter was high. Consequently, late reports were inexcusable.

"I'm aware this is unprofessional of me and I'm deeply sorry sir, but I was delayed from work this morning bec..." She tried to calmly explain, her eyes glued to the floor, but his sharp voice interrupted again, causing pain to shoot through her skull.

"You were delayed?" He pointed a finger in her face "Merda, our funds will likely be reduced by a fifth because of _you,_ and the best you can say is: I WAS LATE?"

All her politeness failed, and once again Mio spoke for her.

"No sir, the best I can say is: I apologize I don't have the report today, _sir_. I couldn't work properly on Thursday _sir_ , and I was busy this morning visiting the doctor because I displayed concerning health symptoms from saving the entire station yesterday, _sir_. I'm really sorry for under-delivering here, **_sir_**

She glared at him, filled with the pleasant heat of defying a superior. She could almost see the smoke shooting from his reddened ears. As she presumed, he was weak. He broke their silent staring match with a cough, and readjusted his tie.

"Sarcasm, is it?" Dos Santos squeaked, retreating to the door. "I see you finally decided to show your true colors."

"Yeah, right. Whatever you say." She rolled her eyes at his back.

"I'll speak with the President, the Captain, and Mister Hizuri about this." He threatened weakly and slammed the door closed.

Her head was hurting again, despite the pill's best efforts. Maybe, she thought, as she massaged her temples and contemplated the forgotten meteor in her hand, maybe their relationship had been upgraded from antagonistic to hateful.

 **Hello my loves! The prize suggestions for K's bravery were priceless, it was so fun that maybe I shed a tear or two laughing - just maybe. This is the first of many chapters inside the zero-g quarters and artificially simulated Mar's Ring; I hope you all enjoyed that, and the OCs! Can you tell their nationalities? As always, thank you for commenting, it makes my day.**

 _ **Trigger warning: K refer to herself with a sex-worker slur in her talk with Thompson.**_

 **Science Corner: Earth's gravity is 9.8m/s, Moon's 1.6 and Mar's 3.7, we would feel super strong and sluggish on both places, like giant attacking Tokyo.**

 **I also added centrifugal force to the Mars' Ring description for quick understanding, but my boyfriend said it is important to highlight that it doesn't exist. As Stewart Campbell explained in a Quora article: "Newton's First Law requires things to keep going in a straight line until acted upon by an external force. The external force, is the wall or container of the centrifuge which simply comes round and pushes against things, forcing them to deviate from their straight line, thus inducing a component of acceleration."**


	4. In which you glimpse why

_Trigger Warning: This chapter may trigger some people. To see a description of the triggering material, please scroll down to the chapter notes. Thanks!_

 **Chapter 4: In which you glimpse why**

Isolation. It was all she wanted as a reward, so she did her best to get it on Saturday.

Usually, station residents used weekends to catch up on sleep, and cleaned their quarters whenever they woke up; especially homesick people spent the rest of their free time on VR's with friends and family, looking for Earth news. K didn't bother with all that. She woke up early enough to bypass any waiting visitors at her hatch, made her way out using only maintenance corridors that would be clear of potential fans, and with painkillers in her pocket, she ignored the rotating South hatch entrance.

At precisely 5 am station time, K reached the main North Mars' Ring corridor, alone.

She allowed herself to take a deep, calming breath. She did it; no one stopped her. As she started to walk to her office, something off caught her attention. LME's most famous place of all time, North Gym, was completely empty. The one area where officers could spend the two obligatory hours exercising to avoid bone and muscle loss not strapped fighting weightlessness, but loose on a gym with a clear view of Earth. An Earth that, because of station orbit and speed, 'performed' breathtaking orbital sunrises and sunsets every 90 minutes - the exact time necessary for completing her katas. That changed her mind; she took a detour and walked back to the changing stalls to put on her workout romper. Those damn reports could wait.

She chose one of the less worn out mats, stretched her limbs, and tried to calm her mind. No one was around to watch her exercise, it was just her, the sun, and 11 billion oblivious people below. She inhaled, took a moment to bow at an invisible opponent and imaginary audience, and slipped into a stance.

Horse stance, block, double punch, breath out.

She executed the first sequence flawlessly. Fighting was simple; she just had to focus and exert control to counter the effects of low gravity. People, no matter how precise her movements, always reacted unpredictably.

Inhale, forward stance, block, counterpunch, turn, cat stance, exhale.

The drops of sweat accumulated on her romper, as the first rays of bright, colorful light formed a halo on Earth's horizon. She'd seen it a thousand times, but the beauty always overwhelmed her. The colors were pure shades of white, orange, and red, not dulled by the blue atmosphere. She let go the stress of maintaining an unpleasant Mio mask for so long, as she mentally noted that the sunlight was white, not yellow.

Inhale, forward stance, left kick, cat stance, right kick, block, exhale.

K finished her circular sequence right were she started by delivering a fluid kick mid-air, two meters above the ground. The controlled, slow descent made her incredibly proud; she was getting better at this. She bowed again and restarted the process, three more katas, and back to work. Her watch buzzed in the middle of the second stance, and K winced, losing concentration.

She reached her wrist to wipe out the call but stopped mid-motion. Kuon had promised, but she didn't believe he would call. It was a massive waste of time for someone like him to be talking with someone like her. She sat on her heels and took a moment to stabilize her breathing, appreciating the comforting warmth of the sun.

"Officer K," he greeted on the voice-only mode.

"Mister Kuon."

"Sorry for the early hour." His voice was deep and rough around the edges, like he'd just woken up. "I hope I didn't wake you..."

"You didn't," she cut straight to the point. "I assume you're calling because of the initial meteoroid report."

She'd sent it in late before going to sleep. He had to be a workaholic if he was up reading work emails this early in the morning. She tried to minimize their conversation to a practical level.

"This is a remarkable porose structure for an obsidian specimen to display. That is, assuming your supposition is correct, and it is obsidian," he continued, fascinated. "Can you record the sounds it makes when moved? I want to send it to a gemologist."

"Of course, sir." She frowned. "I'm sorry for the incomplete information."

"No, no, that's a bonus. You're not from the field; you couldn't know it was meaningful."

She hummed her agreement.

"Perfect, that's settled then."

All went silent but for the efficient typing sounds that clacked through the line. After a moment debating if turning it off would be impolite, she heard him coughing.

"Ahh, and how is life going? Life on the base. Daily. I mean... My droid says the life support system is functioning optimally. How are you?"

She snorted and was ready to dismiss the awkward question, but the words gave her sudden deja vu. The life support fiasco, it didn't need to be her problem alone. He was involved as much as she was, and she could ask his opinion, that is, strictly as a superior.

"May I speak freely, sir?"

"I would hate if you didn't, K," he replied absentmindedly, still typing.

She paused a second but shook it off.

"I'm exhausted from the attention, sir. Everyone treats me like a celebrity now."

"Given the circumstances, I would expect the crew to worship you. Do you not enjoy the spotlight?"

"I have no idea on how to... properly respond to them, sir," she admitted. "This type of situation was not covered in my training. I'm not good with people."

The typing sounds stopped.

"You are right; we should add something about this in the entry manuals," he said. "Well, this is a subjective matter, Captain Thompson would be the best one to counsel you."

"Ah… of course," K winced. Visiting the doctor twice in a week? Nope.

Kuon chucked, recognizing the annoyance in her voice.

"I guess he's a person, too? I should introduce you to my AI, Yashiro, so that you can chat with someone logical for once," he joked.

"Right." She rolled her eyes.

"Hmmm, maybe I have some second-hand advice to offer." He sounded far away. "My father is famous, but reserved. After years of conferences, he developed a technique to help him interact with fans. He just nods and smiles."

"Sir," she marveled, "that's so... shallow."

"Sometimes people are shallow. It's an abstract feeling, after all, gratitude for such dutiful act, don't you think?" She heard the typing in the background resume. "You strike me as someone with a strong sense of morality, K, let them feel that. You don't need to get personal with anyone. Just nod and smile, and maybe drop a 'you're welcome' in the way. They will be satisfied and leave you alone…" His voice jumped all of a sudden. "Ok, found it!"

"Sir?" she asked timidly, still moved.

"We do have a geologist up there. Her name is... Kotonami Kanae, and she's also from Japan. I'll send your her way with instructions for running experiments on the specimen."

That dissipated the oddly personal moment and reminded her of work.

"Do you mind if I go after lunch, sir? I have to focus on the quarterly reports."

"What, why?" He sounded confused. "I extended the deadline on those after the incident; you shouldn't have to work on your weekends for that.

"I guess Gustavo Dos Santos forgot to mention it," she managed through clenched teeth. "I'll find her office later."

"Good. I'll wait for Kotonami's analysis, and your reports on the coffee."

K swore mentally. He was so friendly and honest that it had to be a way of making her vulnerable. The following thought that occurred to her was because he was her boss, and not because she felt guilty, obviously. Strictly thinking about the possibility of being fired, she gathered the courage and sputtered it out before he disconnected.

"Sir! I… I have one more thing to discuss."

"Oh, what is it?"

The humbling mechanical motion helped. She lunged forward and kneeled on the ground, prostrating herself.

"I'm sorry for turning off the radio without permission when you were trying to aid me," she enunciated loudly in her most professional sounding voice. "Please sir, dock an appropriate sum from my wages as a disciplinary measure."

"Mogami… What? Get up, please. You're not making any sense."

"I'm aware that that rebellious action was unprofessional of me," she pressed. "Please allow me to redeem myself."

"No, please, I... It was unprofessional of me to not believe in your skills. If anything, I need to decide on a proper _reward_ for you. Please K, get up off the floor."

"Rewa…" Her heart started racing and then crashed suddenly to a halt. She lifted her head. "How do you know I'm on the floor?"

"I…. I'm watching you through the feeds," he confessed.

That made her jump upright, furious.

"What?! Why didn't you inform me that I was being observed?"

After a second, a video popped up on a nearby screen showing a very ashamed Kuon. As K expected, he was in a dark room, with messy hair and swollen eyes.

"I'm sorry, I was just curious about where you were at this early hour. It's so unusual to find someone up as early as myself; I didn't even consider..."

"...that you are shirtless." She cracked a smile against her will.

"What?" He looked down at his torso, realized his mistake, and disconnected the feed, but not before she managed to catch a glimpse of the blush on his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, sorry for... everything," he muttered. "Oh my god, this is like a nightmare come to life. I actually went to work naked."

She laughed at that, a full belly laugh that had her hands on knees to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry, sir, I shouldn't laugh." Her voice was tiny, trying to keep it in. "Please, just let me know if I'm being watched. I have a bad history with stalkers." Dammit, that was definitely oversharing.

"Will do," he said. "Well, I guess we both apologized plenty, huh? If you don't mind, I'll turn this off. It's my best move to avoid creating more things to apologize for."

"Sure thing, Mister Kuon, and I'll let you know the results of the analysis as soon as Kotonami-san finishes it."

"Perfect. Goodbye," he paused "And please K, feel free to call me directly. It's faster this way."

When her watch went black, she knew he'd hung up. She went back to practicing her karate sequence and decided she was done when some early risers appeared in the gym. Strangely, she felt better after the call, and he'd made her laugh again with his childish behavior. There were certain things you can't do together without starting to appreciate the other person, and a life or death spacewalk was one of them. Better to watch out in the future - she shouldn't allow herself to go soft on him.

K grabbed more protein bars at the empty canteen on her way to the laboratory. Extended deadline or not, she still wanted to finish her work early and shove her competence in Gustavo's face. She managed to do that by sending a very passive aggressive email in the afternoon. With that off the schedule, meteoroid delivery and room cleaning were next.

She decided to fulfill her professional responsibilities first. Having some questions of her own, K gave up on the delivery drone possibility and decided that a personal visit would be faster than typing. Kotonami's lab was almost next door, so close that she didn't even bother locking up.

As if expecting her, the geologist door wasn't closed either. K stopped at the only entrance to scrutinize the space. It was another cluttered room, with a weird light pattern that drew her eyes upward. Small vials of rocks nested on steel poles, created angular shadows on the ground. Kotonami herself was in the room, head and hands buried in a complicated looking machine. K announced herself with a knock on the door.

"Good afternoon, Kotonami-san," she started in English. "I hope Hizuri-san informed you of my visit. I brought the meteoroid sample."

"Mogami-san, come in, I'll be with you in a minute," came the quick reply in Japanese. "Based on your pictures, the porous specimen seems to be an igneous rock. Vesicular rhyolite would be my first guess, but the white spots are uncommon."

"Volcanic granite, I looked into it." K deposited the rock on a nearby table. "Could this be a piece from an earth side eruption?"

"Directly? Impossible," Kotonami said as she turned off her equipment. "It could have bounced into space if a meteor hit a magmatic area and dislodged some fragments, but I already checked with NASA, and they didn't..." her voice died and her eyes went wide, the moment she looked at K's face and neck immediately after.

The angular lights seemed to get brighter, and the breath caught in K's throat when the realization hit her. This was it, what she feared most. In a way, it was almost a relief. Now the enemy had the face of a pretty young woman, nothing new in her book. She knew what to do, what the steps to take, what speech to employ.

"And the sounds?" She stepped into Kotonami's personal space and let her Mio persona flourish. "Any theories on that?"

Kotonami recomposed herself quickly.

"Mo... by some weathering processes, debris could have naturally gathered inside."

"Naturally, huh? Peculiar word choice." The fact that she was shorter didn't diminish the effect of hate pouring through her eyes.

"If you are natural or not, that's none of my business," Kotonami said in a leveled tone.

"But _it_ _is_ my business if you know me," she growled through grinning teeth, trying to stop her voice from shaking. Shaking wasn't good for the character. "Your kind doesn't know limits, so let me be clear: I'm not what you think I am."

"You are clearly not an android; your pupils are round."

"Like that would stop you, _little master_ ," she spat out the venomous words.

Kotonami took a step back, scowling.

"I never bought one of your copies, I'm not a customer."

"Is that so?" Mio made her step closer again, ignoring K's desire to run in the opposite direction. "If not by having personal knowledge, how can you recognize a sexbot at a glance?"

Kotonami squinted.

"That's none of your business."

"It is now!" K yelled, losing all her calculated control. "I don't know if you noticed, but all Kyoko Bots have this face and body. So chose, either you tell me exactly how you know me right now, or you'll have to worry about some critical EVA failures on your next spacewalk."

Kotonami scowled.

"That's absurd, you wouldn't dare..."

" _Try me_."

With a fluidity that only rehearsed motions had, K withdrew a crude looking taser and pointed it at Kotonami's neck.

Kotonami measured her eyes, or maybe something deeper. The geologist's expression was intense with an emotion, perhaps pity. It didn't matter. K held her breath and steadied her cold hands. A silence stretched through the cluttered space before the other broke it.

"I had a boyfriend once that chose a copy of you over me." Her voice was steady and clear. "He was a _nice_ man, so concerned. He made sure to explain his decision at length, so that I could improve for my next boyfriend." She laughed without humor. "Mo, you were _so_ polite and agreeable. If he touched you affectionately, you returned it twofold. If he laughed, you laughed. Available at all times, a truly sweet companion." Her eyes searched K's. "That was the key feature in his choice. I'm not tame enough, apparently."

The weight of those words took a while to sink in.

"I'm... That's not me, _not anymore."_ It was a weak denial. "It was stolen from me."

"So, we have this in common," she nodded.

"How? All memory based sexbots only have my face."

"Mo, you act like you're the only person to ever to be betrayed!" Kotonami finally exploded, fire in her eyes. "It doesn't give you an excuse to be a dick to everybody! That _nice_ guy that stole my research did it to be able to pay for yo... your double. So now, the world knows how to bombard Mars' core to create an electromagnetic field to hold that fucking lovely new atmosphere, but I, the creator, will receive no credit or royalties whatsoever."

"What?"

"Yeah," she smirked. "Was that honest enough for you? Can you get this thing out of my face now?"

She forgot that she was holding it. This woman hadn't used one of her copies, so she wasn't at fault. The shock made K's grip go slack, and the taser fell to the floor.

"I... I just assumed..."

"... you assumed," Kotonami crossed her arms.

"...that you were one of _them_."

K looked down at the poison words. She didn't have the strength to face her anymore.

"Sucks, huh?" Kotonami kicked the fallen taser. " _I_ _assume_ you were pretty excited to practice your righteous anger with _that_."

K stepped back. As always, the irrational guilt overwhelmed her. Logically, it wasn't her fault, but it didn't lessen the feeling.

"Did this… your boyfriend... Was it in Japan?"

"Yes. Three years ago."

"I'm... sorry."

"Mo, don't bother."

Kotonami walked towards the door, away from her. It was a dismissal if she ever saw one. K tried to reorient her spinning world before following.

"Delivery done, great job," Kotonami mused flatly, the forgotten meteoroid in hand. "I've got something for you too."

She perked up, the smell hit her senses before anything else. It was a curry bento, the expensive one with a purple lid. After days and days of protein bars, her mouth watered instantly at the sight. Curry always awakened the memory of her mother's back, enveloped in an apron in their tiny kitchen, when things were still alright.

"I knew from your name that you were Japanese," Kotonami explained. "I thought it would be a good thank you, that is, before you went crazy on me."

"Why?"

K kept her gaze on the box, trying to control the turmoil that was her emotions. As always, she couldn't help but suspect ulterior motives. Kotonami shoved the warm box her way.

"Take it. I already bought it and I'm not eating these many calories at once anyway. If you were a sexbot mold, that's _your_ problem." She turned her back again. "I just appreciate the competence you showed in that emergency. You made us Japanese scientists look good. That's worth a decent meal."

K looked at the bento through blurry eyes. Why? She should be blamed. She was at fault, so why didn't this person seem to mind?

"This curry is crap anyway. They don't season the vegetables enough," she added, her voice hoarse. "I could do it ten times better blindfolded."

She didn't know what else to do, so she accepted the gift with trembling fingers. An almost inaudible confession slipped from her traitorous lips. "I miss cooking _so much_."

"Mo, are you insane?" Kotonami asked, disoriented. "Who enjoys being trapped in the kitchen for hours? Doesn't fit your... image."

"STILL!" She wiped her red eyes with closed fists. "I wish I could be as tough as everybody thinks, but I miss so many things... how I was before _him._ I WANT TO BUILD MY DOLLS AGAIN!"

K had considered doing something unforgivable to an innocent person; the guilt was too heavy. She needed to apologize somehow. She felt a tear drip down her hand, and Kotonami looked too terrified to move.

"My androids, p-perfect to the bones. I was _s-so good_ at it! I had to stop after his betrayal… A-anxiety makes me..." the stream of tears was unstoppable now.

Kotonami finally moved, approaching gingerly with understanding in her eyes. Her voice was unsteady too.

"Mo, I know," she confessed, "writing articles gives me panic attacks now. I hate Mars."

"This is awful, Kotonami-san," she sneezed, hugging the warm package tightly. "I'm _so_ sorry for the problems I caused you, I'm not worthy of _this_ or of your sympathy."

"It's… there-there." Kotonami awkwardly patted her on the head.

K froze like a scared cat under her touch.

"It doesn't have to be this hard," Kotonami kept talking, like a solution was required of her. "There is plenty of good food in the cafeteria. I'm sure it would help if you ate there more often."

"I'm not walking into that pit of snakes if I can avoid it." K stepped backward; she needed some air.

"Mo!" Kotonami had hands on her hips. "Not everyone will recognize you, and if they do, that doesn't make them automatically bad. What about the ones who saw you on the news? On the streets? And people like me?"

"That's naive," K retorted. "I'm not betting on people being good from the start. How can I know who's not guilty?"

"Figure it out yourself!" Kotonami exploded. "It's just that in my experience, being on edge at all times is tiresome. Mo, if anything happens, you can always use that." She pointed down at the forgotten taser.

K finally retrieved it, thinking about how she almost almost screwed up again. Thompson would be furious, but she couldn't bring herself to care, her head was too heavy.

"Wata-I must get going. I've interrupted you for too long, Kotonami-san," she apologized in English.

"That's… mo." She sounded surprised again. "That would be best."

K walked to the lab door. The moment sounded so impersonal and detached, maybe it was the foreign language.

"Thank you for… everything," she fought the words out in Japanese. It sounded more appropriate, more like herself.

She dragged her feet across the ground until she was back at her own office, where she stood frozen by the door, like she couldn't remember how to open it. She sat in her chair and stared forward, out of energy, mind lost in a fog.

She woke up the next day still in her chair, still in her office. She got up, went to the nearest bathroom, came back and slept some more. It was all she could manage. She was still raw.

Monday was better. Her work ethic peeked out from the ashes, and she executed some mindless tasks. She was herself again, her worst self, but at least she was something.

When a knock sounded at the door that evening, she stiffened, but got up and opened the hatch. It was her lab, she was the designated specialist.

A boy was waiting for her outside. He had the wrong tense stance, his body screamed ' _newbie'_.

"Min fadlik, can you tell me which way to the Doctor's office?"

"You are in a ring," her voice was hoarse from disuse, "keep walking and you'll find it."

"Ah, excuse me, but are those gwarikhs?" He looked above her head and bent closer.

She nodded and stood her ground, not bothering to look back.

"Subhan Allah, it's all so pretty, I never expected to find tulips here." His eyes glimmered as he peered inside. "You are Mogami, right? I'm Hassan, Hassan Ahmad, a new member of the maintenance team. Miss, your laboratory is amazing."

She looked back at this, inadvertently following his gaze and taking in the sight for the first time in days. It was a respectfully sized room filled with wide shelves from floor to ceiling, that were almost fully hidden behind the lush greenery popping up from every visible surface, including the walls. The air was packed with earthy smells and humidity, and the yellow lights gave it all a warm atmosphere - probably a breathtaking view to someone not used to it. K looked back at him and shot her worst Mio stare. He closed his mouth and stepped back.

"Pardon me. I always liked the stars since I was a kid. I thought I would never tire of looking at the milky way from the station windows, but I, I miss my mother's gardens. And my mother too. I saw your greens and..." his voice broke and he flushed, scratching his neck.

"I'm sorry. This is the most I've spoken since I left earth, two months ago."

"Look, I don't care." K spelled it out since he couldn't figure it out by himself. "Doctor's office is down there, to the left. Move your feet and leave me alone."

He blushed even more.

"I understand. I apologize for the inconvenience," He nodded. "Have a good night."

K stood at the door looking him go away. Oddly enough, she noticed some other maintenance workers gossiping and looking in his direction. She caught herself studying him too. Most people in the station kept their faces clean shaven, but he had a full beard; he also spoke Arabic phrases, and that she was sure she'd never heard there before. Eventually, he directed his clumsy steps out of her sight, and K closed the door. She thought it would be fine pouring some of her internal venom at him, that it would have felt great, like it was for the other people in the hall. But petty defiance didn't feel good.

If anything, telling off that outcast made her feel even worse.

§

 **Thank you, Teal and Unicorn for beta this chapter. It's been a difficult one since the conception, and I appreciate their help and support more than I can say.**

 _ **Trigger warning: This story presents the concept of androids being used for sex purposes, and a main character had her data consensually used to make them.**_

 **Science Corner: Yes, the actual space station rotates at 400 kilometers above Earth at 28.800 kilometers per hour and completes 16 laps around Earth on its 24-hour station cycle. I got the numbers. And to the ones wondering about the escape velocity vs. eruption speed (ok, I know it's just me) here it is: "Escape velocity from Earth is ~11km/s. Volcanic eruptions can be supersonic in the case of Volcanic Pipes, but that's only ~1000m/s, not even 1% of the kinetic energy required to escape Earth's gravity." - Blake Walsh**

 **Special note to Erza: My dear, I love replying to all comments - it's a bright silver lining of my Mondays - but I can't do that if you are a guest reviewer. I'm happy to know you like the science corner. I wish I could squeeze all this information on the chapters itself, but it would be sooo heavy; this is my way of nerding it out. I'm glad you like my writing style! Means the world to me.**


	5. In which we make some naughty plans

Chapter 5: In which we make some naughty plans

The next days went by peacefully, allowing K to crawl out of her personal emotional abyss. The fact that people _finally_ left her alone helped too. She could almost taste everyone's buzzing energy in anticipation for yet another supply ship's arrival. Personal mail had most in good spirits, save a few bittersweet souls whose LME contract had just ended. The occasion also inspired small talkers to daydream about fresh food; one clueless newbie tried to engage her in a mango ice cream conversation - apparently, it was in season in India - but she managed to evade it with a skeptical stare. Soon, early rising and extra hours cemented her back into a reclusive routine.

The pain was still there, but she tried to avoid thinking about what ached. A personal diversion strategy was to focus on petty problems, like how _awful_ space food was. More often than not, it was pointless even bothering going to the cafeteria. Cereal bars and full meals tasted the same, the only difference being that one goo was solid and the other soft. For safety, everything was cooked on Earth, and heated up in microwaves - a fire in space was the resident's worst nightmare. K hadn't had a decent meal since the last supply ship's landing two months ago, so when that thursday's lunch happened to smell amazingly like sesame oil, she couldn't resist but give it a try.

The cafeteria's long tables were dangerously packed with workers from the whole station, but the way her stomach growled told her to proceed. K entered in the line for Bulgogi Deopbap, keeping an eye on the doors for an efficient exit, if needed, and found an spot almost empty.

K headed for it without making eye contact with anyone else. She sat down and broke the pack's lid, savoring the promising scent it unleashed. She played around a bit, checking the veggie's consistency, and finally took a small bite.

It was fabulous. K quickly took another and another, enjoying the meal. She spread it on the roof of her mouth with her tongue; It was savory-sweet perfection.

"Mo, so you _do_ like food," a bored voice observed in japanese.

K didn't even flinch; she just grabbed another piece of meat.

"Why the surprised tone?"

"I couldn't decide if you were telling the truth before."

"After the mess I made," she shrugged, ignoring the pain, "I owed you that much."

They were interrupted by another tray hitting the table. A bearded man sat next to her and smiled at Kotonami. The color quickly vanished from his face when he recognized her.

"O-oh, Miss Mogami. I didn't notice you were here," he stammered, rising to his feet, "I-I'll take my leave."

"And where would you go?" Kotonami interrupted before he could successfully flee. "You stay here and finish your food, Hassan."

"Are you sure?" He looked at K's food tray, not meeting her eyes. "I don't want to be a bother to someone who stated so clearly that I wasn't welcome."

"You're not special, she doesn't like anyone," Kotonami explained. "And besides, I was at the 'reject table' before her. So you stay."

K raised her eyebrows and nodded, considering how reasonable that description of herself was. Hassan hesitated, looked at the crowd, and sat again.

"When you put it that way, it's impossible to resist," he smiled cautiously at Kotonami.

They began their dinner in silence, but a comment kept rolling around in K's mind. Was the other thing a new jab? She couldn't help but ask.

"Why 'reject table'?"

Kotonami ignored her, so Hassan answered.

"A-Arhm, please don't interpret it wrong Miss Mogami, it's not a personal remark," he clarified. "I named it that way because no one else wants to sit here. I believe it's because it's near the corridor, lots of noise."

K though the explanation naive and overly simplistic. Strangely, Kotonami kept looking at her left. After a quick scan, she found confirmation for her suspicions. A pack of maintenance workers were again pointing at their direction, making broad motions and petting invisible beards while laughing. Maybe the same bullies she saw a while ago.

"A prodigy namer." Kotonami scowled.

K went back to her precious bulgogi. It was not her problem. People were bullied every day. Of course, that was a shocking lack of competence on Thompson's part, and if it was her... but it wasn't. She ignored them and kept eating.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your previous conversation," Hasan apologized after some minutes.

"No need," Kotonami replied.

"Sounded like you were speaking japanese before, it must be comfortable to have coworkers from the same country. Did you know each other before coming up?"

"No," K spoke for the first time.

"S-so you became friends after you arrived here?" He cautiously inquired.

"Definitely not," Kotonami strongly denied.

"I see."

They continued their meal in silence. It wouldn't have surprised K if Kotonami had established a 'no talking' rule for the table. She looked like that type of person.

"So how's work?" Hassan asked when she was almost done. "Any progress with those meteoroids?"

Kotonami responded with an indiscernible hum.

"I agree." He sighed, getting more comfortable. "Everything's the same with me too. At least it's the beginning of the new quarter, and everyone is lively. I missed the last opening, since I was quarantined for a month because of beginner's zero-g dizziness... I hear we're getting a drone specialist next week."

"Robots?" K interrupted him, shivering from bad memories. "Is that your area?"

"Could you imagine being on the frontier of the automated mining rush?" His eyes twinkled a little. "No, my work is way more mundane. I'm in the solar panels team. I'm responsible for making sure the cooling system runs smoothly."

"Meaning you work alone," K said mostly to herself, looking back at the pack of bullies.

"That is correct. I'm usually patrolling the upper corridors while the others stay in the command room. The only gravity simulated moments of my days are these food breaks."

K nodded. It wasn't personal, but on principle, she avoided interaction with people so prone to chit-chat .

"I saw him in the corridors again," Hassan confessed suddenly.

"Mo, third time this week?"

He just nodded.

Of all things, K didn't expect Kotonami's face to be so sympathetic.

"Gross."

K frowned. Hassan saw it, and set himself onto another path of unnecessary explanations.

"Oh, you see. I find couples… dating from time to time on my workspace. People tend to think service routes aren't monitored by video, for some reason."

"Not people, one asshole." Kotonami clarified.

"Report it to your boss," K frowned.

"But it's usually him, my manager, in the corridor," he stole a quick glance to the bullies' table.

"Then report it to Captain Thompson," K insisted.

"That would be the correct thing, wouldn't it?" Hassan scratched his neck. "Lekin… I don't want to be the guy that couldn't keep a secret. Maybe it's part of a newcomer prank. I hear those are traditional on space stations."

Kotonami and K looked equally shocked and disgusted.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," he sighed once more. "I just need to be prepared. I should buy a flashlight or something..."

"Too bad a bucket of cold water is useless without gravity," Kotonami snarled.

K's knuckles went white as she gripped the side of the table, trying to cool off her irritation. It took a lot of control not to get up and smack those idiots' heads. It was a highly hypocritical urge. She too had been an ass to Hassan herself, but being grouped with those hyenas didn't sit well with her. She decided to offer him advice, a well-intended suggestion to clear off her conscience.

"Charge right through them, and if someone complains, say they were in your way."

"What? No!" He shook his head. "What would they think of me? Can you imagine the mess if they file an official complaint?"

"Trust me. It will work," K assured him. "I'm an expert on these kinds of things."

"Busting people?" His mouth dropped.

"Being an ass to your boss," she smirked.

"That explains Gustavo's red eyes last week," Kotonami noted.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Well... maybe he could have gotten more upset than usual from their personal exchanges, K thought. Or the nasty email, it could have triggered something... but it was such a small, petty thing. He couldn't be that _weak_ , could he?

"Man, I wish I could be like you," Hassan confessed.

"A jerk?" asked Kotonami.

"No! I mean, maybe? Like, look at her!" Hassan had to use his hands to better explain his point. "No offense Miss Mogami, but you don't care what other people think of you. You have cool hair and a heroic reputation... You even know how to fight for real! I've seen you in the gym."

K squinted at the stalkerish confession, but he just kept going.

"It's almost like you're a superhero, or a mercenary from space. Like Ripley or something."

"Who?" K was clueless.

"Mo, she is Asian. Try Mulan."

"You have a point, maybe Major Kusanagi... but she's not in orbit. Still, my point stands. I wish I had the courage to just karate-chop Kim in the head and call it a day." He grunted, and concentrated on pushing the food around his plate.

K missed the sound of her chopsticks snapping in four. She was satisfied with her isolated life. It was perfect. Getting involved with other people just created unnecessary headaches. She decided to count her breaths, to stop her stubborn mouth from opening.

She failed.

"That's pointless thinking. You're you, and I'm me."

"And who am I?" Hassan half smiled, making a mountain with his rice.

"The IT guy, obviously." She bent forward. "You said the corridors are monitored. Record your boss' encounters and blackmail him."

He shook his head.

"You don't understand. I can't. He's the manager, he already knows it's all recorded. Besides, his friends are always in the monitoring room, and I'm not welcomed there." He looked at the devilish glint in K's eyes. "And I'm not breaking in!"

"We are past this already," she rolled her eyes. "You are the IT guy. _You are hacking yo_ ur way in. I know someone who can get disposable computers, and it's not hard to access the intranet..."

A package landed softly in front of them, cutting her speech short. It was an electric razor, equipped with a vacuum, safe for use on weightlessness. A man got up from the maintenance workers, winked at them, and exited the cafeteria closely followed by his pack. K snarled at the elaborate and expensive 'joke.' It could easily pass by as a thoughtful present.

"Meet me three nights from now at the north gym." K's mind raced. "In the meantime, try to identify his regulars."

"Ok, that's enough," Kotonami stood up. "This plan is illegal. Anyone involved can be fired from the station without previous notice or payment."

"Are you serious?" K stared at her. "Besides being a dick boss, it sounds like this guy is collecting footage without his partner's consent. You're just gonna ignore that?"

"I'm not stepping into this ridiculous plan," Kotonami stared back. "Apparently, you're a ticking time bomb with nothing to lose, but I'm not. I actually _care_ about my career."

K reflected on the painful truth of her words. Once more Kotonami was right, but once K made up her mind, she wouldn't go back; especially not about something so glaringly unjust. When she focused on the present again, Kotonami had already walked away.

"I-I'm so sorry Miss Mogami." Hassan looked panicked. "I said some unnecessary things. I don't want to ruin your relationship with Miss Kotonami. I'll apologize to her immediately."

K unpacked a new fork, determined not to waste the rest of a perfectly good meal because of a petty outburst.

"To begin with, there is no relationship. You just discovered that I can't stand poor work ethic and abuse of power, but Kotonami-san can," she explained. "Hassan, you're teaching this Kim person a lesson."

§

Three days and forty-eight orbital sunrises later, Hassan found her on a mat, once more executing circular fighting sequences. K was pushing herself even harder since skipping her exercise routine that past weekend. She didn't like to feel her muscles atrophying, it was maddening. It took a while for K to identify him. The gym was so packed that she was having a hard time not meeting someone else's eyes by mistake.

"Array wah! That is _so_ cool," his mouth hung open.

She continued moving, alternating between punches and blocks.

"You sure took your time."

"Actually, I arrived a while ago," he scratched his neck. "I was at the door, and you kinda entranced me with those moves - a dozen other people and me, apparently." He looked around.

She rolled her eyes.

"Did you bring what I asked?"

"Yes…" he pressed a hand over his pocket. "Look, can't we just stay here in the gym? I was thinking more about what Miss Kotonami said, and I would rather learn how to fight instead of going forward with... this plan."

K stopped with her leg stretched mid-kick to glare at him.

"You could, but that wouldn't solve your problem."

"Really?" his mouth dropped. "Would you teach me how to fight?"

"That's not..." K brought her foot down.

His line of thought was so off that K's brain failed to reject it immediately. Hassan's eyes glimmered with hope. A perked pair of dog ears wouldn't look out of place on his head. She tried to think in obvious reasons to why this would be a bad idea.

"Isn't it forbidden by your religion?" She scrambled. "At some point, I would inevitably have to touch you."

"Forbidden because you are a woman? No, it should be fine." he smiled. "But thank you for the concern. I appreciate when people actually ask instead of just assuming."

She gave up on the workout and scrubbed her face with an antiseptic wipe.

"There's no chance of you being caught, if that's what you're worried about."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes," she wiped off the mat before walking away. "Let's go, we're late for the movie."

"The what?" He asked, jogged closely behind her.

"I thought my contact would be here today. They like exercising during peak hours, but it's thursday, movie night." K stopped in front of the stalls. "Wait here."

After a few minutes, K headed back in the full glory of her hot pink suit, scrubbing a liquid through her head.

"I'm still not used to no-rinse shampoos," Hassan tried to spark small talk, and failed miserably.

They rose out of the Mars' Ring in silence, climbing the never-ending spiral ladder. The further they got from the artificial gravity, the more Hassan goofed around, with his giant, clumsy steps. K pointedly decided to ignore him when he mistakenly spun in place, back at zero-g. He was a noob indeed.

They arrived at the movie after it started. K spotted her target rather quickly, but other customers had already surrounded them. She decided to watch the picture and wait for an opening, but soon the cheesy lines started to piss her off. They were showing _Silent Night_ , a generic romance with a weak protagonist. To make matters worse, she kept getting distracted by a dark seam in the middle of the screen. In the past, someone thought that an empty section of the dormitories would make a good projection wall. LME provided popular titles, and it became a tradition for residents to watch together. K thought it was all pointless. Why wouldn't someone just watch in the comfort of their own room on VR? And why that garbage movie? Might as well use it as research for her plan.

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry to inconvenience you, silly me is lost." K repeated the lines in a saccharine voice. "That's not right, ahem, _Silly me is lost!_

Hassan looked at her. "What?"

K tested the next dialogue.

" _Could you please, please help me_?" She squeaked and held her breath a little. " _I need to stop that wedding!_ "

To her amusement, Hassan looked mortified.

"Why are you mimicking her, Miss Mogami? Are you making fun of it, or are you thinking about changing your image?"

"No, I don't need to do it again." K dismissed the topic. Thinking about Mio would just mess up her current training. She turned to him and repeated the line. "' _Silly me is lost!'_ Do I look like her?"

"Your voice is sweet... but your eyes, are kind of... empty," he confessed. "You're scaring me, it's uncanny."

"Oh right." She turned on her watch mirror and started making faces. It was a rookie mistake.

"Did you see that miss Kotonami is here too?" Hassan whispered, looking around the room. "I wonder if she plans on reporting us."

"I don't think she's that kind of person." K turned to Hassan once more, modulating her voice and letting her eyes brim with tears. " _Thank you, Robert. I wish you all the happiness."_

"Yup, that's perfect," he said with flushed cheeks. "You got it. Good job."

"Right on time."

She unlocked her toe from the handrail and pushed forward to intercept the smuggler's path, fresh out of friends.

"Oh hi K. O wow, you brought a friend!" Aanya turned to Hassan. " Nice to meet you, I'm Aanya Bakshi. I've never seen you before. Are you new to the station?"

K thought that was a weak lie. Nothing escaped her eyes or her cameras.

"Namaste," he politely answered. "I'm Hasan Ahmad. How did you know I was new? Am I famous already?"

"No, your feet tell the story," Aanya's pierced nose scrunched with laughter. "Newcomers think they have to hold the handrail with the whole foot to steady themselves. Watch K, a veteran. Just her big toe is enough."

Hassan was struck speechless as he became embarrassed again. K noticed that despite it happening a lot, he still managed to talk too much.

"I didn't think you'd run out of shampoos so soon," Aanya addressed her. "Have you been working out more than usual? Is that why I get the honor of two visits in one month?"

"That's not it. Aanya, how fast can you get Hassan an anonymous watch?" K looked at the movie once more. "He also needs an invisible camera, and a hat."

"I never thought you would ask for the fun stuff." Aanya smiled her best good girl smile, and K knew it wouldn't come cheap. "The speed mostly depends on one question. Do you like anime?"

§

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger, I'm learning with Aikori (she is evil). Since I** feel kinda of bad about this, next chapter will be out next monday!

 **Thank you dear readers for continuing reading, for giving me your time, eyes, comments and love. Those are incredible gifts.**

 **Science Corner: I'm mostly going light on the food consumption because the cafeteria is on a simulated gravity place, but all types of crazy stuff can happen when you leave water and organics floating around. If you are up some laughs, I recommend researching about Mir, the russian space station. Here is an expert from a Motherboard article: "In one particularly egregious incident in 1998, American astronauts discovered that dirty water globules—some of which were roughly the size of basketballs—were casually free-floating behind some of the station's service panels. These gross liquid orbs, which were alternately brownish or cloudy white in color, had become miniature planets of activity for the opportunistic microbes that were attempting to commandeer Mir.**


	6. In which we finally have some fun

Chapter 6: In which we finally have some fun

K's watch rang, and she knew who it was before lifting her wrist. There was only one person in the world who would call her, and of course, he chose to do it at this complicated time. She kept drifting forward and accepted the call, voice only.

"Officer K! I hope to find you well?" Kuon's voice boomed in her earpiece.

That made her shiver. It was the first time she heard him in earphones, and it felt close. Too close.

"Terrific, how can I help you?"

"I have some intriguing news, but first, I would like to discuss your participation in the Life Support Black Out - that's the official name now."

"Wonderful," she rolled her eyes.

"Officer, you were invaluable to the recovery process of our station. Your levels of responsibility and concentration under pressure are praiseworthy - as for me, I personally commend your ability to ignore a lousy boss," he joked. "In the light of recent events, LME would like to offer you a bonus of ten thousand dollars, and a promotion to the role of Living Species Specialist. We want to support your career, and we'll do everything in our power to ensure your success."

"Majide," K was in weightless, but she had to hold a wall for support anyway.

"I'm afraid I don't speak Japanese, _kouhai,_ but maybe you can teach me sometime," he laughed.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. That's… most kind," she babbled, out of air. "I do appreciate it, but… do I have a choice, Mister Hizuri?"

"Of course, and it's just Kuon."

"Ok, Kuon, can I just get the raise and not the promotion?" she asked weakly, dizzy. "I really enjoy my current research, and I don't want to manage other scientists. Most of all, I don't want to take Gustavo Dos Santos's place. Can I keep my position as it is now, _please_?"

"Are you sure?" he sounded incredulous. "Your salary would double."

"Yes, I'm aware." She really was; the prospect of talking daily with a team of strangers was horrifying.

"Well, I suppose the bonus is already good, but... ah! What about this?" his voice turned up enthusiastically. "I know you've been in orbit for almost three years. I'm going up in a few days, do you miss anything from Earth? Would you like me to get something for you?"

"No, please, I don't want to be a bother. The money is more than enough."

"Alright, if you're sure… "

K's panicking mind thought he sounded upset, but she might've been reading him wrong. There was no reason for him to be disappointed.

"Well, I also have news regarding that meteorite," he changed the subject, sparing her further awkwardness. "Kanae finished her tests, and it took a while, but the results are in. Turns out her first guess was wrong; it's not vesicular rhyolite. It's a semi-hollow silicon rock, and the bits rattling around are actually dislodged stone. It was once all part of a single, solid specimen. So, in other words, the porous structure is not a naturally occurring formation, but something that happened as the result of erosion. The meteoroid is a cristobalite, a snowflake obsidian with alien origins."

"Alien origins?" K was trying hard to keep up.

"I simply mean that it didn't originate on earth. In fact, looks like it came from outside the galaxy; somewhere with an extreme atmospheric pressure that could form this complex silicon puzzle."

"That's fascinating," K resumed her journey, revitalized by the discovery.

"And once again, your open-minded hypothesis was correct." He sounded as excited as she was."I checked all our sensor records and video feeds, and there was no discernible change in the environment before the rocks appeared, at least none we could measure. One moment it wasn't there, and in the next, it was."

"This is incredible." She was in awe. "I don't know if I should be proud that I was right, or worried for what that means."

"Look on the bright side, at least you were right about something," he sighed. "That puts you ahead of Kanae and me."

K snorted.

"Can you send me this report?" she asked. "I'd like to see the data for myself."

"Sure," he paused, typing in the background. "Alright, done."

"Thank you."

K thrust forward once more. This wasn't even the same realm as her areas of her expertise - currently she focused on Martian coffee, but it was fascinating nonetheless. More exciting than any other project she'd worked on save the memory-based androids. She didn't know why Kuon kept sharing so much with her; if she were responsible for this investigation, it would all be classified, but she was still grateful that he held her in the loop. After she finished up with Hassan's business, she would definitely lose sleep speculating over it.

"Mogami," Kuon called.

"Hai?" K snapped out of her daydream, with the vague impression that he'd called her before.

"I said, I checked the logs of our radio call again. There's something strange there. Maybe you could help me clarify it."

"Yes, of course," she perked up, "glad to help."

"You did create quantum computing androids in the past, right?"

She hesitated, not getting where he was going.

"That is correct."

"So say, hypothetically, someone with this rare computer logic expertise could have recited the fibonacci sequence when I asked, don't you think?"

"Aaaahn... yes,"

"Ha!" he rejoiced. "You lied to me! In my book, that's worse than disconnecting a call without permission."

"No sir!" she cleared her throat. "I just said I wasn't a mathematician. Technically that's not a lie... I do have a background in programming AIs, but I didn't feel like talking at the time and..."

"You can relax officer, I'm just messing with you," he laughed. "But remarkably, that's exactly the opposite conclusion I came to."

"How so?" she measured her words.

"If you wanted to be left alone, dutifully reciting numbers was the easiest option. Since you refused to do so, I was required to find other topics of conversation to keep your mind running." He had that characteristic smile in his voice. "K, I think you wanted company."

K abruptly reached for the floor with her foot, spinning 180 degrees in the air. Of course, it wasn't because of what he said. It was just because she arrived at her destination, and she almost missed the drop out spot!

"Oh wow, look at the hour! I need to go; important assignments to report, and you know, Officer Gustavo gets very displeased when I'm late." She rushed the words as she detached a package from the delivery drone. It had a hat, a camera, and a watch inside. "Alright sir, have a good night sir, bye bye."

K dropped the call and tried not to panic. Kuon wouldn't mind, he said so himself. There was no time to wonder how he got under her skin easier than Sho or Thompson, not when she had a heist to prepare for. K pocketed the watch and attached the camera to the stupid blue panda hat. It blended in perfectly, like an innocuous black pin holding a loose ear.

Step one concluded: getting hold of the questionably legal items. Step two: approach the third maintenance control room, steal a password from a technician, and exit without raising suspicion. Simple and straightforward.

K sent a message to Hassan, signaling for him to be out of sight. She took a deep breath and tried to concentrate and summon her character. She was vain, she was simple-minded; she was easily excited and overly sweet. She was a protagonist in a romance, and the world was her love story.

K put on her hat and drifted to the control room, inspecting all corners with big, curious eyes. There was a multitude of buttons, screens, and machines in the claustrophobic place. Some tools were either floating adrift or attached to the walls indiscriminately. Three large screens displayed colorful numbers and stats.

"Moko-san, are you here?" she asked loudly.

The five men and women present turned to her, two by the door, three floating by the screens; no look of recognition in their eyes.

"Can we help you, miss?" a girl by the door asked.

" _Oh, I'm so terribly sorry to inconvenience you,_ " she apologized with tears welling in her eyes. " _Silly me is lost._ "

It worked like a charm. K tried to stop her disgust when the men hastily floated in her direction, carelessly knocking tools away. She had to concentrate; she was a sweet, romance protagonist. She couldn't afford to feel disgusted, any of them could be her prince!

" _Could you please, please help me?_ " She targeted the one on the left monitor. " _I need to find my friend!_ "

Screen-guy-number-one's mouth dropped. He was ready to speak, but her cute spell worked too well. Screen-guy-number-two cornered her, possessively.

"Wau, is that a Sora-chin hat?" He grabbed it by the ear, and it comically slid off her head. She did her best not to smack him. "Man, I love Type-E too! Did you watch this week's episode?"

"W-whoa, you scared me," she forced a smile. "I didn't see it yet. In fact, I was looking for my friend so we could watch together, but I seem to have missed our meeting spot. I'm so airheaded. Can you give me my hat back?"

"What does your friend look like?" Screen-guy-number-one asked, trying to recover his ground. "Maybe I can find her for you."

She eyed number-two, but he was occupied arguing really fast with number one in Korean.

"That would be so kind!" She exclaimed.

She decided to go ahead; maybe this still could be salvaged if she managed to memorize a password. Perhaps it would be simple, like root, or password, or 123456.

"My friend has long, black raven hair. She is about this much taller than me, and oh, she is Japanese too!"

"Let's see…" Number one detached himself from the other, got back to his station and typed a mix of special characters, numbers, and letters. All she managed to memorize was an A, J and . K curled her fingers into fists. _She would burn that stupid anime fan alive_. "Is this her? You are lucky, I think she sensed you were in trouble. She's by the door."

"Is she now?" K's surprise was sincere.

"K!"

Her head snapped immediately, but Kotonami's cold aura got her first.

"M-Moko-san, _my friend_! I was so worried. I looked, but I couldn't find you anywhere. We need to watch this week's episode of Type-E!"

K said the words with honey in her voice and despair in her eyes. It was a dim hope that Kotonami would get the act without any previous explanation.

"That's because I was looking for you everywhere too, you silly girl." Kotonami floated close enough to mess up her hair. It hurt.

"Heh, you know how what an airhead I am." K looked down to disguise the murder in her eyes.

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't breathe," Kotonami said in a way that made K wonder if it was a threat. "What happened to your hair? It's a bird's nest."

"He took my Sora-chin hat," K pointed at screen-guy-number-two and pouted.

"Oh here, you can have it back." He handed it over to Kotonami, apparently the designated pack leader. "I'm sorry I took it, I was so excited to find another Type-E fan. Would you consider selling it to me? I wanted to buy one this month but..."

"No, it was my gift." Kotonami dismissed him. "We have to go, we're late for our… thing. Say bye to the nice man, K-chan."

K was stunned in place; she was prepared for many things, but not that -chan honorific. It was overly personal. Kotonami pushed her back, and she floated out of the room, knocking some tools adrift.

" _Goodbye,_ " she remembered the rehearsed lines, " _and thank you, Robert, I wish you all the happiness._ "

"My name is Joo-won," screen-guy-number-two-frowned.

Once they were far down in the corridor, K rushed behind Kanae and addressed her in Japanese, for extra security.

"What are you doing here? Snooping around again?"

"I'm saving you, idiot," Kotonami snorted and pointed at the hat. "Mo, that was really stupid. And what's up with your gross attitude anyway? You looked so sweet I wanted to vomit."

K took out the hat and plugged the pin-camera into her watch.

"You are not sidetracking this conversation. You heard me and Hassan planning at the movies, didn't you?" K asked as she inspected the camera's records.

"You were too loud," Kotonami kept drifting forward.

"We were not." It was K's turn to snort. Nothing useful. She threw the pin away in anger. "Why did you come here anyway? I thought you wanted to stay away from all this, _Miss I-Love-My-Job_."

"Mo, if you two were caught, I might've been charged with accessory," Kotonami frowned.

"If anything, I would accuse you of being a spineless coward who doesn't care about doing what's right."

Kotonami rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't have talked about you at all," K added, calming down.

"Doesn't matter anymore, it's done," Kotonami stopped and opened a hatch. "Get inside."

They were still in the dormitory corridors, not far away from her own room. K realized it must be Kotonami's place.

"I don't want to," she grabbed a handrail stubbornly, like a child.

"Don't be unreasonable. Those guys were all over your cutesy act. They will be following us with the cameras," Kotonami argued. "I'm your alibi."

K sighed.

"Fine."

She floated inside, following Kotonami and closed the hatch. If not for the body sized mirror, this room was a carbon copy of her own: a mess of floating cables, velcroed tools, and packed walls with a slit of empty space as an excuse for a bed.

"Just don't show up next time and you won't be an accessory," K seethed.

"Mo, what do you mean next time?"

"I failed to get screen-guy-number-one's password," K exploded. "It was the whole point of this act, but screen-guy-number-two _had_ _to_ take my hat off - the hat with a camera - and now I have to try this again because of that _otaku_."

Kotonami observed her rage from afar, as she'd done previously. K pretended not to notice before, but she didn't miss Kotonami's wandering eyes snooping on them in the cafeteria, in the gym, and at the movies. She was always nearby, judging but never helping.

Well, at least until now.

But it didn't count.

Kotonami cursed, grabbed pen and paper, and angrily scribbled something down.

"Here, have it." Kotonami handed the thing. It said AJ th3t0pofthew00lrd123.

K's eyes went wide. "What?"

"It is 'AJ at the top of the world 123'. Stupid but secure," she admitted begrudgingly.

"How did you... you weren't in the room when he typed."

"It was on a post-it by his desk."

K kept glaring at her in disbelief.

"I can recall everything I read," Kotonami explained. "I have an eidetic memory."

K looked down in awe at the paper. It was a lifesaver. Somehow, part two was successfully completed, despite her plan going awry. Now the path to part three was clear; she just had to use the anonymous watch and AJ's password to log into the intranet and record Kim's dates. A slow smile bloomed on her lips. Thanks to Kotonami, the hardest part was over.

"What did you call me again?" Kotonami abruptly asked, interrupting K's thoughts.

"Ahn, Miss I-Love-My-Job?" she looked up, trying to remember.

"Before that, in the control room. Was it... Moko-san?" Kotonami frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Can't you figure it out?" K's eyebrows shot up.

"Mo, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That's rich, Moko-san," K laughed out loud. "I needed a cute nickname to be my character's best friend. It was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Fine, you don't need to share why."

Kanae twisted her long hair into a quick chignon, and entered her sleeping sack with a huff. Apparently, K's answer wasn't good enough.

"Can I borrow your keyboard?" K asked, still suppressing giggles. "If I'm here for a while, it's better to use my time well."

"Suit yourself," Kotonami's voice came muffled.

"Thank you," K said through a smile.

K could only see the back of Kotonami's head poking out as she unfastened the keyboard from the wall. K could still feel her heart pumping hard with adrenaline. The little heist let something slip free of her locked box of emotions. Maybe it was _fun._ She played with the keyboard's cord for a while, appreciating the sentiment.

" _Thank you,_ " she repeated the words, almost in a whisper.

Kotonami's shoulders seemed to relax a little.

K programmed the watch with prompts for a discrete video connection recording. That went by disconcertingly fast, so she decided to check her messages. Kuon's email was there, full report attached. Kotonami's rock models were amazingly detailed. It looked like a picture she once saw of anthills in a glass, crossed by infinite canals and cavities.

"Could I look at that meteoroid again?" K wondered. "I understand it must be a classified investigation, so there is no problem if…"

"I'll bring it by your lab." Despite being late, Kotonami's voice was not sleepy.

"Wouldn't that be a problem for your analyses?" K asked.

"I have some of LMC's samples and 3D models of the one you recovered, it's fine. Hizuri-san also gave you clearance. Apparently, you're part of the investigation team."

"That's news to me." K straightened her legs and floated to the hatch. "I think it's been enough time. I'm heading back."

"I'll bring you the specimen tomorrow," Kotonami promised.

"Thank you, Moko-san," she teased one last time.

K deployed part three of the plan the next morning, and it was surprisingly harder than she anticipated. A core part of her plan depended on finding an alibi for Hassan while they recorded his boss - it would be all pointless if he could be linked to the blackmail. Making Hassan spend time in the command room was the logical conclusion, but it was hard to convince him of that.

"Miss Mogami, they hate me! And it's too hard to start a conversation with people I don't know," Hasan had whined.

She found that odd. If he'd managed to talk with her and Kanae, he should be able to speak with anyone without problem. In the end, he left the cafeteria displeased, tasked to watch Type-E episodes for research. _'It's not even a sci-fi anime!'_ She exited the place equally annoyed, telling him she wouldn't teach karate to someone who can't face his fears.

It was a gloomy Friday.

§

K returned to her lab that night to wait for Hassan. They needed to check their status in a safe place, free from unwanted eyes and ears. It was a big surprise to find Kotonami there instead, walking through her edible plant shelves.

"Enjoying the tour?"

"You've seen my laboratory," Kotonami replied from behind some lettuce. "Now we're even."

K snorted. That liberty was too much - she had never invited her to visit the lab _alone_. She angrily picked the snowflake obsidian from the table, Kotonami's excuse. Again, it was wet to the touch. K didn't remember seeing that specific note in the reports. She decided to double check before bringing it up, to avoid appearing ignorant.

"Is this were we get our the salads from?" Kotonami asked.

"No, it's all cooked on Earth and delivered by the shuttles. We can work with nuclear power in orbit, but LME is not ready to risk _cooking_ in space, yet," K set the rock back down and walked toward Kotonami, ready to throw her out.

"But this is way less calorie dense than our regular meals," Kotonami observed. "What do you do with the lettuces after they're done growing?"

"I compost them to fertilize the next plants."

"You can't!" Kotonami looked shocked, an odd glint in her eyes. "Mo, please let me have them."

"Are you asking me to break the rules, _Moko-san_?" K smirked.

"No cooking would take place, I wouldn't even cut them!"

K heard a song coming from the door. Hassan had arrived early and apparently decided that it was ok to come in. The fact that he was whistling 'everybody wants to be a kung fu fighter' made it all worse.

"Oi, I told you it's Karate, not Kung Fu," she corrected. "Wait outside."

"Sorry. I thought it would be a good time to take that picture of the tulip for my mom. I'll leave."

K rolled her eyes and focused back on Kotonami, who looked ready to steal a head of broccoli. She pressed her temples with her thumb and index finger. What had happened to her life? Why were there two people in her lab on a Friday night? She was so very exhausted, and she needed a break.

Hassan dared to repeat his stupid Kung Fu melody.

K turned back to him, cracking her knuckles.

"Is this a challenge Ahmad-san?" She let her Mio persona seep through. "Should I personally demonstrate the differences for you?"

Hassan's eyes went wide. He opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out of it. Her Mio thought that it was strange, seeing as she hadn't even started yet.

"Are you ok?" Kanae asked from behind her.

"'W-w-w-woooo ch-che-ez! P-p-pat-t-thar..."

"I can't understand it," K replied. "What's going on?"

He shook his head and wet his lips. He tried whistling again but failed.

"Hassan? Are you alright?" K approached him.

He looked ill; maybe she should call Thompson.

Hassan shot his palms up, signalizing her to stop. He pointed to the meteoroid next, wet his lips once more, and managed to repeat his melody. It was terribly out of tune this time.

Kotonami and K waited.

The snowflake obsidian repeated the tune, perfect to the exact dissonant notes.

A floret of broccoli fell to the floor as Kotonami gasped.

"I think," K said very carefully, "that I need to call Kuon now."

§

 **Boom, this is happening.**

 **Fuck Mars.**

 **(On real author notes, next update will take longer than usual - I need to catch up with this research, physics is not being kind to me.)**

 **We completed 2/7 of this story, woho!**

 **Science Corner: I realized I never mentioned the fibonacci sequence in this notes. As you may know, it's a series of numbers in which each number - Fibonacci number - is the sum of the two preceding ones. It starts as 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 ad infinitum. Another nerd way of counting would be reciting the numbers of PI, but you can't figured out those by making sums; it's more of a memory game and that's Kanae's jam.**


	7. In which he arrives

Chapter 7: In which he arrives

Mo, that couldn't be right. She had ran experiments on that rock for seven days non-stop, following all official standards for physical characteristics. It was a vitreous specimen predominantly composed of silicon dioxide. It hit a seven on the hardness scale. It presented colorless, tetragonal crystals unevenly sprinkled throughout the artificially porous structure: an uneven cristobalite! Hell, she'd even gone so far as scanning it into a three-dimensional model, just to be safe, and worse, she dared to buy ice-cream yesterday as a prize. She'd been meticulous, so how could that piece of silicon possibly be anything other than lifeless matter?

Kanae snapped her fingers repeatedly.

Nothing happened. No problem, discard that theory and try again. What did Hassan do that she didn't?

She snapped her fingers to the song's rhythm. Again nothing happened.

Alright, the experiment had to be closer to the sample source. She tried another song, this time whistling instead of snapping.

She thought she was prepared, but she had to step back when the specimen mimicked the song back.

This was huge.

Fuck Mars' core, fuck Tetsu, and fuck Erika. This was bigger, so much bigger.

A nearby grunt brought her freaking-out brain back to reality. Hassan was trying to get up from the ground. She'd completely forgotten that he was still there, hell, she'd even forgotten which lab she was in. Humidity, free veggies, K.

"Mo, are you ok?" she offered him a hand.

"Can someone be ok?" his accent was especially thick.

"It scared the heck out of me too." Her heart was still racing.

"Yeah… can I touch it? Wait, should-should I touch it?

"I have no idea," her laughter came out a bit hysterical.

"Dammit. New alien things always end up with some gruesome deaths in the movies, right? Man, thought I would be the heroic type, but now... I don't wanna be attacked by an eldritch horror."

"Nani?"

What line of thinking was that? Sometimes she forgot how much of a nerd he was. Of course shy, messy haired, and sci-fi driven Hassan would know the fastest ways to die from alien technology. He straightened his pink sweatpants and panda hat unnecessarily.

"It sure puts things in perspective," he laughed nervously. "A minute ago I was so worried about my social life. Now, there is an alien whistling rock in this lab."

Kanae took a deep breath and leaned on a shelf, her knees needing some support.

"Agreed." She nodded to K, a pacing pink blur, behind a shelf of dwarf banana plants. "Is she giving you a hard time?"

"Not really. I was just reporting back in person, you know, to avoid a digital footprint," he sputtered. "She's got it all figured out."

Anonymous hands-on action was the only secure way of handling it, but she wished he wouldn't do anything at all. Hassan was too solicit for his own good. He shouldn't be blindly following K's crazy lead into illegal activity. He deserved better.

"And how is that going?" she eyed him, hands on her hips. "Mo, are the command room idiots being as unbearable as usual?"

"Actually, they're great," he marveled. "It's so strange. Once I got Joo-won talking, the others came by pretty easily. Helps that Kim is not around when I visit them too… Hey, do you think there is a risk of that rock spitting out some corrosive stuff?"

"Hmm, I'll add that to my research list, and who would've guessed that," she snickered, "a crazy loner fixed your isolation problem."

"She is not crazy!" Hassan's eyed her angrily, but his voice got softer. "Ok, maybe a little, but in a good way. K can be pretty awesome when she wants... Hey Miss Kotonami, why is Miss Mogami blushing?"

Kanae's bad feeling about Hassan's attachment to K was forgotten when she followed his eyes. K was animatedly talking to her watch, pacing around, with bright red cheeks. Wow, look at that, her day had gotten even weirder.

"Is your superior also difficult?" Hassan inquired.

"Mister Hizuri is nothing but professional." She searched her mind. "Mo, the only thing I can think of as remotely odd is his insistence on being called by his first name."

"Hey, I also insisted you called me by my first name."

"You are not my boss. Where I came from that's extremely impolite."

"Mujhay samajh may agai," he recited. "Respect your elders."

Kanae nodded. She liked this about Hassan, he could appreciate tradition and boundaries. He wasn't half as complicated _like_ _some other people_... like herself.

"I see that you're ok. I'm going back to work."

"Good luck, I think I need to visit the doctor, my head hurts." He curled his fingers into fists. "Well, also, fuck it. I need to touch it at least once, otherwise I won't sleep tonight. Can I?"

"Wait." Kanae found the correct file on her watch and sent it to the printer. "Would you mind signing an NDA for me first?"

"What's that now?"

'Non disclosure agreement," she explained. "This research is highly classified. You can touch it, but you can't tell anyone about any of this."

No matter how much she sympathized with Hassan, she wouldn't take that chance again. This was _her_ research; her big find, her path to academic acclaim. No one would steal her spotlight again. No one.

That dork. That obnoxious, idiot fathead. So what if she called him for the first time? He completely missed the point! She had zero hidden motives, she just needed to report a serious, real, alien-recorder apparition. An emergency! ' _That's a first.'_ he said, like _she_ was making it up an excuse to call! Honestly, that spoiled, entitled brat...

"Where are you going?" K snarled.

Hassan was in the right place at the right time. She wouldn't dare say anything to Kuon's face, but this person would do.

"Me? Out. Work," his eyes went wide.

"Good, don't you ever, ever step inside here without permission again, do you understand? Stupid, overly enthusiastic person. Trespassing in other's people laboratories and disrupting a perfectly fine ecosystem with whistling, of all things. Whistling for crying out loud! I don't know what I was thinking when I stepped in to help you, but don't expect it to happen again. Really, what a stupid thing to do. You are a helpless baby that doesn't even know how to walk without gravity babysitting your vestibule fluids. I don't know how you've survived this long alone. But you were not alone, were you? Noooo, it's all Kotonami-san's fault, that evil little geologist with a stone for a heart and cauliflower for a brain. If she hadn't insisted that I sat at that stupid table that day, nothing of this would've happened. I would be just investigating this rock business from afar, nothing hands-on like this. No way that I would… wait, where is Kotonami-san?"

K spun in place, and sure enough, the rock was gone.

"B-back at her lab," Hasan muttered.

"Why did you let her take it, you smiley moron? Who takes evidence from a crime scene? And don't you dare stand there rubbing your neck, answer me straight!"

He stopped mid-motion.

"C-crime scene? Isn't this meteoroid _her_ _research_?"

K cracked her knuckles and Hasan cleared his throat.

"Miss Kotonami asked me to sign an NDA, collected the rock, and headed back to her lab, saying she would call Mister Hizuri herself," he stammered. "Look, I just came by to say that Joo-won asked me to be his second in command in the shuttle rendezvous. I have a practice session now."

"Fine. Go then." K counted to ten before speaking. "I don't need you here."

She really didn't need him. She didn't even know why she was so angry in the first place. This was irrational and served no purpose. What if there was an alien device in this station? There was no time to panic. She needed to be professional; to search for Kotonami as Kuon asked, and to help her advance the research. Kuon could do nothing useful from the pre-shuttle launch quarantine. In a moment of crisis, K needed to be level-headed, professional, calm and... _to hell with all that._

"When are you free?" She stopped Hassan in the middle of fleeing. "I'm going to teach you Karate. I need to hit something."

"Tuesday, three pm station time," he couldn't hide his smile. "I'll be in the North Gym."

She rolled her eyes and followed him into the hallway. Shouting had helped calm her mind, and filled it with an unstoppable explosion of questions. Could the songs be perfectly normal, a weird case of radio interference? Would all the meteorite samples display the same behavior? Did other scientists observe a similar phenomenon before? She went overall known facts as she walked, but had to stop when the handle didn't give.

Was Kotonami one to lock doors?

"Kotonami-san," K knocked.

She counted to thirty, but there was no response. Maybe she wasn't loud enough...

"Are you there? It's K."

Again nothing. K shook off the uncomfortable feeling that started to sink into her stomach. She hated forcing her way in when she wasn't wanted, but this was work, and she had an assignment.

"Moko-san, I'm here to assist you," she tried in Japanese.

"Why? You are a botanist. This is not a plant."

"Great point, but it was never a problem before, was it?" K's patience was starting to fail her. "Why are you hiding behind the door?"

"This project it's mine, not yours. Get lost."

"Hey, if someone deserves credit, it's Hassan for triggering the response, and me for recovering the rock in the first place. You have no idea what..." She bit her lip, taking a deep breath. "Look, I don't want to step on your toes, you seem to have it under control. Just do me a favor and explain it to Kuon yourself."

Kotonami replied with a snort.

"Fine, I'll be in my lab," K fumed.

It didn't make sense. Kotonami could be blunt and brief sure, but she'd proven to be considerate when it mattered. Watching her act so selfishly was disappointing, but again, she was in no position to judge, being a loner herself.

K let out a sigh, thinking that Kuon should've picked someone else. She was no good at this.

A blinking light on her watch accused her of owing sleep hours to her cycle, but after seeing potential proof of alien intelligence that day, her brain wouldn't shut down. She ignored the alarm, resolving to start the next quarterly project. _Martian potatoes_ , an all-time classic.

At one am, the lab door opened.

"I can't make it mimic me again." Kotonami sounded dejected.

"Ask Hassan, he was the one who did it before."

"Mo, weren't you supposed to help?"

"Snowflake obsidians are not plants, Moko-san."

The door slammed shut. In hindsight, it was a petty move, but that's why it felt so good. K held onto that smirk while she heard shouting from outside.

"Fuck, I don't need this. All that time in my lab and nothing happened, but I come here and …."

The door was kicked wide open.

"Hey, this lab, it has to be it," Kotonami looked distressed, her eyes unfocused.

"Has to be what?"

She whistled a choppy, high-pitched tune that, sure enough, was replicated.

"Perfect, that's it. I don't need _you_ , I need _your lab_ , so get out."

"You said it yourself _, it's my lab_. Whatever happens, I stay." K crossed her legs definitively in her chair.

"No. I'm afraid that's not an option," Kotonami insisted. "I don't have time to monitor you or your data right now."

"Since when is this a priority?" K's blood boiled. "Did you forget I have clearance?"

Kotonami squinted.

"It's not like you to care so much. Are you hiding something?"

K clenched her fists. "So now I'm a suspect, but of what exactly?"

Kotonami laughed without humor.

"Mo, let's stop playing dumb. You and I both know exactly what _this_ is about. After knowing I had my previous research stolen, just like yourself with androids, you're surprised I'm acting suspicious?" She put her hands on her hips, eyes defiant. "K, unless you sign an NDA, I won't let you come near this research."

K slammed her hands on the table and stood up. Once more, she regretted talking about Sho's betrayal before. She'd run from the problem as far as possible, but the past just had to follow her all the way _into space_. It didn't matter; it shouldn't have mattered.

"Am I the one playing dumb? You know very well that Kuon asked for my help ." K hissed, inclining her body forward. "Besides, do you even have the authority to make decisions regarding data owned by LME?"

Kotonami paused in front of the door and spoke without turning back.

"You found it outside the station, so it's international waters. That means it doesn't belong to LME. "

"I guess you didn't read through your employment contract, but whatever, it's not my problem."

The door slammed shut.

K blinked and went back to her work. She should've been sleeping, but how could she? Kotonami managed to get under her skin. She didn't need to be reminded of what she lost because of that idiot. All proprietary code, gone. All patents, unclaimed. _All personal memories,_ defiled. She tried to calm down while creating a cross-reference spreadsheet of the previous tuberous findings.

At three am, Kotonami walked came back, and K watched as she deposited a box on a shelf between them, and removed a stack of papers from it.

"You're right, I checked. They own it all," Kotonami admitted begrudgingly, "but this is still my research, and it has to be kept confidential. Will you sign the NDA?"

K rolled her eyes.

"So long as it doesn't violate LME's rules, I don't care."

Kotonami studied her for a long moment and handed her the document.

K sat back at her table, reading over it carefully. It was a standard LME NDA. There were no loopholes in the language, just specific clauses about research privacy and intellectual ownership, with the stipulation of a harsh financial penalty and legal action if she violated the terms.

"For the sake of transparency, I keep a sort of diary," K confessed. "Will, is that be a problem?"

"Of course. Omit anything related to this project from it."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." K got up and lifted a small, metal box into view. "I keep readings of my brain patterns here. Memories from my days are mashed with feelings and impressions. I can't untangle them."

Kotonami eyes widened.

"But that's a quantum database. Isn't this the setup…"

"Yeah," K interrupted. "It's how you record your memories to transfer to an android later. This is an old prototype I used to work with."

Silence filled the cluttered room.

"Of all people, I never thought you…" Kotonami's voice failed.

"Would keep it? Neither did I."

She set it on the table and gave the question some thought.

"After our first… talk, I got tired of just reacting. I don't owe anything to anyone but myself. I need to do what will make me happy, and _this_ used to be a part of 'happiness'.

K projected a calmness she didn't feel, while Kotonami went back to pacing. Maybe saying the words out loud would help her believe them. She balled her hands to stop them from fidgeting.

"Give me the encryption key, and you can keep it." Kotonami decided. "You shouldn't be able to decode information without it, not without leaving the station."

She hesitated but agreed.

"Ok."

K signed the papers and handed over the key. She could still add to the database, but she couldn't take anything out. It was a small price to pay for someone else's peace of mind.

"All yours," she said, clearing off the table and standing up.

Kotonami hummed in agreement and went back to retrieve her cardboard box. K tried to ignore the fuss and buried herself in her own work with the potatoes seeds. She needed time alone to process things, but her heart insisted on beating in an impossible pattern everytime a song was repeated.

The eerie chorus sent chills down her spine.

They worked for hours, no words passing between them, with Kotonami going in and out of the lab to perform repeated tests, while taking audio and visual recordings of everything.

At 5 am, K still wasn't sleepy at all. She decided it was as good a time as any to prune her flowers, and she could uphold her reputation as an overachiever by preparing the compost while she was at it. Around six am, Kotonami started to fidget, and K noticed her eyes were getting puffy.

"I don't understand why it mimics the songs here, but not in _my_ lab," she said mostly to herself.

"Water."

"What?" Kotonami turned to stare at her.

"The air in this lab reaches one hundred percent humidity." K drew her finger into a pot, and sure enough, it became wet with condensation. "I was thinking that maybe... water could go through cavities and draw out sounds from the obsidian, like crystal when you pass your finger over the edge. I have no idea how it knows that it should start the process, though."

Kotonami nearly screamed. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"You didn't ask," K explained "and you had a point. It's not really my area of expertise. Maybe it's something else entirely."

Kotonami retrieved her contract, scribbled, and brought it forward.

"K, I ask you to say anything that is on your mind regarding this project, even if you think it's not worth it." She pointed down. "It's part of the assistant clause now. Please initial here."

K frowned but did as she was told.

"Ok, well, in this case..." She grabbed a bucket. "It could be nothing, but I was wondering what would happen if you submerged it in water."

"Let's try." Kotonami sounded reinvigorated.

Hassan found them working at the whiteboard five hours later, pinning graphics, pictures, and lists all over the place. He stopped to admire it after leaving some cereal bars on the table.

"As Salaam Alaikum! Did you start early?"

"More like we never stopped," K replied. "Is that for us?"

"I figured you didn't stop by the cafeteria today. Miss Mogami and Miss Kotonami, you need to take care of your bodies first and foremost! If you get sick and put in quarantine, how are you going to work on this project?

Kotonami rolled her eyes at this, but K half-smiled. She lost count of how many times she'd said something similar to someone she cared about.

"Any progress with the 'singing rock'?"

"Are you naming things again?" Kanae complained.

"I need to, otherwise you're going to choose a ridiculous acronym, like Kotonami-Mogami-Recorder-Singularity, or something equally bad," he wrinkled his nose. "I don't mean to offend, but you scientists _are not_ very good at coming up with names."

Kotonami gave it some consideration and crossed out a line on the board. K watched the exchange while chewing on a bar. The two were so different that sometimes it was easy to forget they were friends. Maybe Kotonami forgot something too since the board was on full view. She cleared her throat.

"There is progress, but I'm don't think we can share."

"It's fine," Kotonami explained, still scribbling. "He signed an NDA."

"Uau, what a lively room!"

Of course, it was _him._ K grit her teeth, while Dos Santos exchanged pleasantries with Kanae and Hassan. She busied herself with covering the data and trying to ignore the weight of his eyes on her back. So, Gustavo _could_ be nice if he wanted, who would've thought?

"May I speak with you in private, Mogami?"

"Of course, sir."

He lead her some shelves away from the others, carefully, like he owned the place. She swallowed some remarks that came to mind and followed.

"You missed today's meeting. Is everything alright?"

 _Shit, the monthly, Sunday thing._

"Yes. Rest assured, it won't happen again, sir."

He gave her a calculating smile, full of teeth.

"Tsk tsk, another excuse, K? I'm glad to see you made some friends, but don't forget you still have work to do."

K snorted. She couldn't stomach his acts anymore.

"I _was_ working, and they are not my friends, but I didn't think you actually care."

His fake smile finally faded.

"I really shouldn't."

Dos Santos handed her the bag of genetically modified seeds that Anne should have brought to the meeting and left without another word.

K clucked her tongue and returned to her 'friends'. She really should have accepted that promotion when Kuon offered. The prize of never looking back at Gustavo's face would've been worth it. Almost. She noticed Hassan was rubbing his neck again.

"Would you come to see me today?" He was staring at the floor. "It's my first time docking a spacecraft. I could use some support."

"When is it?" Kotonami asked.

"In three hours, at the Indian docking station."

"Ok."

Hassan looked at K, and even opened his mouth, but decided better of it.

After he was gone, she and Kotonami worked for two extra hours, getting a presentation ready. A short list of bullet points was not very impressive, but considering the time they had to work with, it was incredible that ' _it sings'_ was not the only new information. Kotonami argued that they should use the available time for research since Kuon would be too tired to look at it immediately after landing, but K insisted on making it anyway. She had a feeling they would need it.

They left lab together, and Kanae hummed when K continued floating past the hatch to her room. Few people were present at the dock, and Hassan found them almost instantaneously, smiling brightly from his cabin when Kanae gave him a dry thumbs up. Apparently, everyone was just waiting for Joo-won to finish talking with a girl. It was strange how familiar she looked.

"Annya?" K let out, in wonder.

And then that it hit her.

The Indian docking station was in the same section as life support central; she was certain the emergency pod would be located behind a set of five consecutive hatches. K never realized it before, because the last time she was here, bodies were floating, and the emergency lights blinked in an eerie, post-apocalyptic way. It was nothing, well, nothing so _normal_ looking like now, and, the angle wasn't right. She'd been on the other side of the wall, right when the colossal, hovering supply ship was. It was so strange. She'd been there just _once,_ a month before, and now a vivid sensation of fear, focus, and asphyxia gripped her, as she looked outside. It was the same way the sight of an old neighborhood would fill her with comfort and longing, but twisted.

K broke away from the group and thrust closer to the hatch, inspecting the place with new eyes. There was the screen, the same screen where Kuon talked to her on video for the first time. Because of the highly emotional content of their exchanges, she almost felt like they'd been working together for years, but in reality, she had seen only his face twice. She couldn't help but wonder how he looked in person. Maybe he was one of those photogenic people that look so attractive on camera but were unimpressive in person. It would be easier that way. His smile was really disconcerting.

"What's so interesting?"

Kotonami joined her beside the screen. K opened her mouth to speak, but something caught her eyes before she managed a sound.

The rendezvous and shuttle decompression were over, and the first passengers were coming out, awkwardly trying to be cool in zero-g.

K recognized a blonde person.

Her jaw dropped, her heart stopped, and she froze in place.

Against all odds, he also recognized her, and a broad smile formed on his face, a smile she knew too well - the genuine one. The one he used when she brought puddings for dessert, and not the one he used to flirt with the girls on campus. Before she could run, he was right in front of her.

"Kyoko! Is that really you?" Sho asked, dumbfounded.

 ***sips latte***

 **Aaaaah.**

 **Where was I? Oh yeah,**

 **I'm a bad human being. I completely forgot to thank Aikori for helping get my obsidian facts straight. Aikori, you rock. *finger guns***

 **As for housekeeping, this fanfic is not an M, but I still talk about some uncomfortable, dark things. So, I decided to add a trigger warning on top of chapters with sensitive content; I hope this helps you pick and prepare for the topics you want to read. Needless to say, we'll have hard things to read next week.**

 **Science Corner: "A relative humidity measurement of 100% does not necessarily mean that rain is falling. It just means that the air is holding as much moisture as it can at a given temperature, in the form of water vapor, which is an invisible gas." -Michael Bell**

 **I never managed to make a full, proper explanation of Rendezvous, so Wikipedia to the rescue: "A space rendezvous is an orbital maneuver during which two spacecraft, one of which is often a space station, arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance (e.g. within visual contact). Rendezvous requires a precise match of the orbital velocities and position vectors of the two spacecraft, allowing them to remain at a constant distance through orbital station-keeping."**


	8. In which there are friends

_Trigger Warning: This chapter may trigger some people. To see a description of the triggering material, please scroll down to the chapter notes. Thanks!_

Chapter 8: In which there are friends

Shotaro stood at the end of the hall, surrounded by maintenance workers. He was laughing, probably telling some story about himself, she guessed. K pushed her hoodie down, spun around, and went down the opposite path.

Everything was fine.

She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, but she was safe and sound - her gut reaction was as fast today as when he landed. Running away had been easy, but avoiding spilling the truth to Kotonami was harder. Still, she managed that too. There was nothing to say. As long as she kept her head down and stayed quiet, things would eventually settle down. She'd been doing it for years now, flying under the radar; she just needed to hold it in until the transfer back to earth was accepted.

Everything was fine.

§

"You're bleeding!" Kotonami interjected.

K blinked and looked around. There were plants. It was her lab. She and Kotonami were debriefing Kuon about the alien rock. The hallway and the people were gone.

"Where's the first aid kit?" Kotonami set her pen on the blackboard and rushed to her side

"Under my desk," K slowly uncurled her fingers, staring at the deep, red gouges.

"Is everything ok?" Kuon looking uncomfortable.

"Fine."

After the silence, K realized that something else was needed of her, so she offered an excuse.

"Probably happened when I trimmed the pea plant this morning. The debrief was so interesting I didn't notice it."

Kuon bought the excuse and cleared his throat.

"I get you. It's all so fascinating that I'm having a hard time keeping my jaw shut so we don't have to clean the floor later," he smiled. "The most intriguing part is the 3D models. Even cloned on the molecular level, they still don't mimic the melodies..."

K looked at his bright, genuine smile, showing off his dimples, and sparkling, golden hair... Her mind went blank for a second, and it made her even more agitated. She'd been terribly wrong. Kuon wasn't photogenic, no, he was even more handsome in person. It was distracting, but it seemed more than just a side effect of attaching a face to the now familiar voice. She frowned at the blackboard and tried to find something smart to say.

"Aaaahn, we think maybe it's related to the substance it's made of," she muttered. "Perhaps the replica should be made of obsidian too."

"I'm working on it, but casting obsidian is almost impossible. I'll start experimenting with simple glass," Kanae responded absentmindedly. "Here, use this to disinfect the wound, and apply pressure with the gauze."

K forced a smile and avoided making eye contact. She didn't want Kotonami to figure out where her mind was. It seemed like there was no end to her nosiness lately.

"Excellent. I'm also setting up a research group on the ground, and Yashiro will take care of expanding our resources without drawing attention." Kuon nodded.

When he said his personal assistant was a drone, K imagined something more… anthropomorphic. The only human characteristic of the hovering screen was the projectid male, human face. She did think that making it wear glasses was a nice touch, though. The drone silently followed Kuon when he walked in front of the board.

"It responds to continuous pieces of music, as long as the tempo is within a certain range, but stops if there is 1.4 seconds of silence between notes," Kuon continued.

"Maybe it can't read the environment when the frequencies are spaced too far or too close," Kotonami suggested.

"No dubstep then." Kuon rubbed his chin.

"What?" K frowned.

"Nevermind." He cleared his throat and turned back to the board.

K sat at her desk, applying pressure as instructed. She thought she saw a red glow on the tips of Kuon's ears. She felt lost. Was that normal?

"I was thinking about the next point. First, the specimen acknowledges a constant stream of sound of any frequency, given it's not too slow, repeats it back once in the same frequency, and then makes a new sound fourteen times in another frequency entirely."

"We think the new sounds might be produced by an echo of the water flow inside the rock," Kotonami added. "It rearranges itself at the end of each interaction, in order to make sounds again..."

"Too obvious." Kuon paced in front of the desk where K was sitting. "If we, technologically behind this tech, can move the water around without making any sound, so should the obsidian. What is the exact frequency it emits?"

"1,420,405,751.786 hertz," Kotonami read from her watch.

Kuon stopped and snapped his fingers. "Hydrogen."

"Of course!" Kotonami smacked her forehead. "Maybe hyperfine transition units."

"It's not a residue, it's a map!" Kuon exclaimed.

"A map?" K was utterly lost. She reflexively checked the door, even though she knew it was still closed. The tightness in her chest didn't lessen.

"Exactly, an elegant solution." Kuon took a seat on the other end of the table. "This 'residue frequency' from the obsidian is in the band emitted by hydrogen atoms, and hydrogen alone."

"And why is the hydrogen so important?" K frowned, sliding away from him.

"In the hypothetical case that your civilization needs to broadcast something anyone in the universe could understand, you would choose the frequency of hydrogen - it is the most common element," Kuon explained.

"We also used it in the pioneer capsules that went out of the solar system," Kotonami added, still typing.

"Thank you, but I know what hydrogen is. My doubt was because it uses the 1420 frequency, it means it came from an intelligent source?" K clarified. "I still don't see where the map comes from."

"That's where the assumptions start." Kuon gave her a half smile. "If you assume they used the same code as we did in the pioneer capsules, the sound should be coded in binary. I'll convert the patterns into coordinates and search for pulsar stars nearby that emit the same radio signature. It's a long shot, but it's still a shot."

"And why would 'they' come to the same conclusion and use the same method as 'us'?" K leaned forward, searching his face.

"I don't know." Kuon ran a hand through his shimmering, golden locks. "I agree it's a weak hypothesis, but if nothing else, it still needs to be ruled out."

When scent of his shampoo hit her, K realized she was staring directly into his mesmerizing, emerald eyes. Feeling the anxiety creep into her stomach, she jumped up from the table. What was wrong with her? Shotaro was in the station, where she could run into him at any time, and she was acting like she didn't have a care in the world, practically drooling on her boss. She should at least try to work; to be useful for a few more days.

"I-I can help to decode binaries, that is, if you need help," she offered.

"Thank you, but I can do it," he smiled.

It made her even more embarrassed. Of course he could. The man was as much of a genius as his father. How patronizing of her.

"You could test out other liquids." Kotonami lifted her head from the keyboard she'd been furiously typing on. "Hassan mentioned something about acids, and it made me curious about the possibilities."

"Who is that?" Kuon turned.

"Our friend who started all of this." Kotonami went back to typing.

"I'll bring him here," K blurted, "I need some fresh air anyway."

She lifted her hoodie, opened the door, and fled the lab before anyone could object. No matter the risk, she needed to get out of there.

 _Our friend_. Bullshit.

Why were people so eager to throw around that label? Why couldn't she be in her own lab, without the constant presence of a chatty escort? K scanned the Mars' Ring halls and picked at her lip to focus.

People were so distracting.

She never had to worry about someone else's presence affecting her productivity before. In the past, she could only see Sho, and it was fine since she wasn't interested in seeing anyone else... since they had a tendency to be snakes playing with her feelings to get to him.

K tore off another annoying piece of skin, stopping when tasted blood. She knew better. Now was the time to stay alert, when that idiot could jump out from anywhere and end her fragile piece with just a...

§

"K! Are you listening to me?" Hassan searched her face.

"No." She wiped the sweat from her brow.

"I said, maybe the obsidian is trying to communicate with us." He cast a glance around the room before adding, "maybe it is a sentient being and you got a pet rock!"

Her head hurt, and her world was spinning. She needed to ground herself. Breathe in and out. The gym. It was Tuesday. On Tuesdays, she taught Hassan karate in the North Gym. This was his second lesson. Sho was not around.

Everything was fine.

"Stop talking about classified stuff out in the open, and do the move again."

"But I don't understand this sequence, can you do it slower?"

Hassan stood in his workout jumpers and high socks, with a confused expression. He looked inoffensive enough, but what if it was just another trap? What if his friendly face was just a mask?

No, everything was fine.

"It's supposed to be a sequence of defensive and offensive strikes." She counted to ten in her mind. "Imagine there's an opponent in front of you."

"But I'm not used to knowing where their 'imaginary arm' is," he sighed.

K eyed the door. Four people walked in, one of them blonde. Not him.

"Come closer and hit me." She beckoned him forward. "Two punches, two blocks, cat stance."

Hassan did as he was told, and she observed his movements closely. As far as she knew, he didn't know who Sho was, otherwise how could he act so normal in the middle of this mess? And how could he so bad at fighting? His strikes landed short and were too soft. He had no spirit.

"Oh, for god's sake." K's patience snapped.

She shifted fluidly from defensive to offensive, and executed the sequence herself, for what seemed like the ninetieth time. Punch, punch, block, block, step.

He reacted quick enough. Good. She did it again. Punch, punch, block, block, step. If he turned out to be a snake, at least now he might be better at biting.

She went over it again, and again and again. With each strike she released her frustrations. All the tension from constantly being on high alert. All her fears.

"STOP!"

K stopped suddenly when she heard the scream, painting.

Kotonami was on the floor, shielding Hassan's body. His arms were bruised. Red.

She'd overdone it.

"A-Are you ok?" The question sounded dumb even in her ears.

Bile rose up in the back of her throat. She went too far.

This was not fine.

"What do you think? If you keep spacing out like this," Kotonami warned, "you'll end up messing up even worse. Get out of the way, I'm taking him to the doctor."

K almost offered a hand, but she couldn't do it. This was her fault. Like Kotonami said, she'd probably just make things worse.

Hassan looked at them both for a long moment, and shook his head.

"I can walk. Just stay here."

He made it to the front hatch before she could make up her mind. K left the room right after Kotonami. Hood up, head down.

She followed them to the doctor's office in silence, and for once Thompson wasn't a dick. He asked no invasive questions and made no offhand remarks. In less than half an hour, Hassan was patched up and properly medicated. K felt helpless as she watched the bandages being applied, the guilt eating her up inside.

She knew she needed to apologize.

"A word, love?" Thompson asked when they were heading out.

K stayed behind in the wall-less room. She simply stared forward, at the starry sky. Not at Thompson. Never make eye contact with Thompson.

"You look like shit."

"Thank you."

He paced around her for a while glancing over every so often, as though trying to decide where to begin

"Are you responsible for that?" He lifted his chin toward the door.

She nodded.

"I thought maybe the air recycler was leaking CO2 and making you less of an asshole recently, but I guess that's just wishful thinking on my part."

She couldn't bring herself to disagree.

"Your luck is that Kanae and Hassan seem accepting of you, poor bastards." Thompson stopped in front of her. "You know, of all the people in this turn, I never thought you would go back to earth before me. Why did you request a transfer back to solid ground?"

"I feel like a change of scenery," she kept her eyes on his graying, red hair.

"If you lie to my face like that again, you little prat, I won't help cover up your latest mess."

K drew a long breath. She supposed it was useless to lie to a former marine.

"I don't want to be on this station anymore."

She felt the weight of his gaze searching her face, but didn't give in to the prickling sensation at the back of her eyes.

"Really?" he stepped back and sat on his chair. "Well then, you'd better hurry up and get your affairs in order. Right your wrongs while you still have the chance."

K accepted the dismissal and started to exit, but he called her once more.

"You know that I'm here if you need me, love."

She ignored him, as usual.

K reached Kotonami and Hassan in silence, rehearsing the words with a bitter taste in her mouth. She gathered a shred of courage before they reached the stairs, and bowed low in middle of the hall.

"I'm sorry."

Hassan and Kotonami stopped.

"Sure," he said.

"I should have been paying more attention, but I know that's no excuse… You ended up hurt because of me and..."

"It's ok," he replied.

"Hassan..." Kotonami started, but failed to continue.

K chewed at the inside of her cheek and looked up. Hassan was sweaty, his back was arched as if protecting his arms, but his almond eyes were calm. They seemed honest.

"Really?"

"Jee han," he nodded, "I should have said this to you before, but I was afraid my voice would break, you know, because of the pain. This is also my fault for not understanding the exercise properly."

He motioned a hand up to his neck, but winced in pain and stopped halfway, making Kotonami rush to his aid. K cringed, knowing too well it was her fault.

"Sorry, I'm a slow learner. Take it into consideration when planning our next sessions," he suggested.

Kotonami gave her an dark look. It was what she deserved. K had lost control, injured an good and innocent person; she didn't deserve his acceptance, but nonetheless, he gave it to her.

She wasn't worth it.

K did her best to measure her words and actions in the next days, to not fade away into the darkness. Her sense of self was spread thin, but she maintained a modicum of social veneer, even when Kotonami started following her everywhere. Kotonami didn't even bother to do it from afar this time. Late at night and early in the morning, at the cafeteria or in the hall, Kotonami was present like a bodyguard. It was pathetic, since the woman was so thin and pretty, and K so muscular and androgynous, that it looked like the opposite - _it was like_ _K was following her around._

"Don't you have anywhere better to be?" K snapped after a week, returning from a indulgent trip to the cafeteria.

"Who was the guy who called you Kyoko?"

"Who?" she tried to maintained a level voice. "W-When?"

Kotonami stopped to stare at her, hands on her hips.

"Mo, if that's how you prefer to handle this situation, I'll follow along." she resumed walking.

K chewed at the inside of her lip. "I don't know what you're talking about."

One more week, she just had to deal with this for one more week. Her transfer had been approved. The research was in order, Gustavo was aware - and exultant too, she was sure. Not even a week, just five more days, and she could go down and never deal with…

Her world spun as some clumsy guy shoved her down, on her way out of the cafeteria. She fell to the floor, on her hands and knees, pathetically slowly - courtesy of the martian gravity.

" _Kuso_ , I didn't see you here," he apologized, and the blood in her veins turned to ice. "Hey!"

K ran.

She ran through the halls, climbed up the spiral ladder, and pushed against a wall, covering ground at an inhuman speed, trying to escape from the nightmare.

Everything was fine.

She was fast.

"Kyoko!"

K propelled herself, stepping hard on another handrail. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears and limbs felt impossibly heavy. She needed to get to her room before she shut down. She needed to lock herself in for the next five days.

"Wait for me," Kotonami's voice came from behind her.

"Everything is fine, you can leave now." K ripped off another bit of skin from her lip to focus and thrusted again.

Her cold, sweaty fingers slipped from the handrails, and she ignored whatever she collided with next. She tried to count, but her mind didn't know the sequence. She tried to summon Mio, but the familiar feeling of hatred didn't fill her. Fleeing was the only option. She thought her defenses were better than this and still… how could he? How did he speak to her so casually?

"Is that who I think it is, K? Hold on."

The recoil from Kotonami yanking on her elbow cause them to spin out, crashing into opposite walls. The collision made her take the first deep breath since she'd started running, but she couldn't stop. She needed to hide now and take the shuttle down later. And change countries. Somewhere in South America, or maybe an island. Surely he hadn't reached Hawaii yet, it would be hard, but….

K's eyes focused and found him immediately behind, drifting erratically at a high speed. He had followed them.

" _Please, no. Don't."_

K pushed Kotonami forward into his path and tried to dash to the opposite side, but her foot got tangled in a handrail and she heard, _and felt,_ a sickening crunch. The sharp, throbbing pain of a broken bone was nothing compared to the way it burned when he inevitably caught up and _grabbed her arm_.

"Kyoko! It was really you, wow I can't believe it! I didn't know you were up here too, are you also in the robotics division? I should have checked the team's names, but who has time for that? Wow, babe you changed so much!"

She froze, her foot throbbing angrily with every beat of her racing heart. Some part of her brain registered a positive stimulus - he was paying attention to her. She bit through the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood. If she just stayed still, and didn't fight, he would be pleased and leave. She needed him to leave.

"This is him, isn't it?" Kotonami's voice sounded far away, like it was coming from underwater. "Should I get help?"

"Help? What are you talking about? I'm not some random _guy."_ Sho's rich, poison voice reverberated through her body and she closed her eyes, feeling herself sink. "I'm not sure who _you are,_ but this reunion is private, so give us some space, would ya?"

"K, talk to me. I'll call security."

"Security? Don't be ridiculous, stupid wo- I mean, _hi, I'm Fuwa Sho,"_ he shot her his most charming smile, the one that always won people over, "I just arrived on the station, and I've known Kyoko, Mogami Kyoko, since we were kids. We've been dating for fifteen years now, so don't worry. She's safe with me."

 _Oh, he didn't…_

"That still doesn't give you any right to-" Kotonami started.

"Me?" she looked directly into his eyes. "Are you talking about me?"

A spark of anger brought up one of the Mio lines she had memorized. Lines she had repeated until her old self was erased. K's voice was as cold as the void beyond the station.

"Interesting, I've always been under the impression I was more your pet than your _girlfriend_."

"Pet?" Shotaro repeated. "What are you talking about? I care more about you than anyone, more than even myself. "

K snickered as she struggled to get free, pain lancing through her with every movement, but he just pulled her closer.

"Babe, I've been searching for you for so many years. I have so much to say, so much I'm thankful for." He spoke the smooth lies with practiced ease. "You were there when I screwed up bad, supporting me even when my parents ran out of money... You are my second in command, my muse, and I made you famous. Was that why you left? You're still not over this?"

He stroked her arm with his thumb and her stomach lurched. She didn't know what was worse, if it was all just a lie, or if he really believed it.

"I left because you made androids with my face." Her jaw clenched and she struggled to maintain Mio's calm facade as nausea and pain threatened to make her unravel. She shook her arm once more. "Let me go."

He looked around at the mention of bots. Kotonami was speaking into her watch, and apart from the figure approaching from afar, the dormitory hall was deserted.

"It's not that big a deal. Kyoko, _you_ are the smartest thing in this world, and _you belong to me."_ He smirked proudly, like nothing had ever been truer than those words. "At first I was pissed off, but everyone else is just playing with second rate copies. _I got the original_. Did you think I stopped loving you less? You don't have to feel guilty, I'm fine with it."

She felt dizzy, she couldn't take much more.

"You forgive me? I don't deserve such _kindness,"_ she spat, venom lacing each and every syllable. "How kind of you to forgive me. What a shame I can't reciprocate. Now, _let me go."_

"You can't forgive me? For what?" He leaned close to whisper in her ear, "it took me years to find you. There's no way I'm not letting go now."

K snapped.

The rush of adrenaline overtook everything else, and she anchored herself with a toe on her uninjured foot, bent her knees, and headbutted his chin away with all the force she could muster, finally floating free.

"Drop the act!" K screamed, her whole body shaking with rage. She could feel the sting of tears but she bit them back. She wouldn't cry in front of him. Never again.

"You scum! You sold my data, my name, my identity, and my work. You took everything that I had! Everything that I was! I _loved_ you! How could you!?"

Shotaro clumsily reached for a nearby shelf for support, and Kotonami rushed to K's side, standing in between them. "Security is coming, back away."

"Don't shift the story to make yourself the victim," Sho groaned, hurt. "You were always so smart, _you had to_ want to sell it too! Otherwise, you wouldn't have developed the program logic, stored your data and made it react so well to _me_."

"K! It's not worth it," Kotonami tried to intervene once more.

"Mister Fuwa!" Annya appeared out of thin air. "I was looking for you, your quarters are in the other direction."

Their objections were just noise, fading into the background.

"I just wanted to be with you! For you to pay attention to _me!_ I wanted to come first," K howled behind Kotonami, "but people are just playthings to be used and discarded at will in your twisted, narcissistic mind."

"How many times will you make me apologize for it?" Sho dislodged himself and floated closer to them. "Look babe, let's discuss this somewhere private? They are nothing compared to you, and I know I'm the only one who can make you happy, you left the proof in the code. We can go back to how things were before, working on projects together. Who else would love you the way you are now..."

His speech was cut short when Kotonami's fist slammed into his perfect jaw. Little droplets of blood floated around them, and K was pushed away by Kotonami's recoil. She could feel the throbbing in her foot, but she barely registered the pain.

"Go to hell!" Kotonami yelled, massaging her dominant hand.

"Kyoko, wait..."

Shotaro prepared for another jump, but Aanya held him back while Kotonami dragged K by the hand. She was finally free.

As Kotonami pulled her away to safety, she could hear Annya scolding him.

"Looks like you're suffering from some hearing issues, Specialist Fuwa. _Her name is K."_

K's heart felt like it was on the verge of exploding. The adrenaline was still coursing through her body, pushing her to move, but where? So much had changed. She confronted him for the first time since... actually, for the first time in her life. She'd called out his lies, and no matter what happened next, peace wasn't an option. He was jealous and vindictive, and he wouldn't give up that easily. Still, she had screamed - spreading all her secrets out in the open. And why was Annya there? How did she arrive so fast? She wasn't from security. Did Kotonami call her? How much did she hear?

There were a thousand questions running through K's mind, but there was one thing she was certain of.

"You punched him," K's just stared at her, dumbstruck. "You mother-fucking punched him."

Kotonami squeezed her hand harder, and kept pushing forward.

"Mo, if you weren't going to do it, someone had to."

Was that allowed? It never occurred to her before. Something started to bubble up inside K, and she couldn't help laughing. Once she started, it just wouldn't stop. The throbbing was getting worse, and with it, the pain. Her body shook, hurting, and dizzy, and nauseous.

"Thank you, Moko-san." K tried to steady her breathing. "I'm just sorry that it came to this. Oh well, I can find a new place to hide. Up here or down there, it makes no difference."

"What are you talking about?" Kotonami was confused.

"Thank God you two are ok," a familiar voice called.

K had never seen Thompson outside his office. His khaki pants and gray hair looked out of place in zero-g. He drifted to them with the speed and elegance of someone who had done it a thousand times.

"Ugh," she groaned, trying to hide behind Kotonami with the last of her energy. "Twice in one week is too much."

Thompson ignored her protests, spread his arms wide and hugged K.

She wanted to resist, but everything was too much. Her head was swimming and it felt like her ankle would snap off completely with another movement. As her world faded to black, she didn't feel Kotonami's tightening grip, or Thompson lifting her body. She let herself succumb, feeling somewhat safe.

"I'm going to murder him, love," he promised. "We are definitely shooting his balls into space."

§

 **Triggering note: This chapter depicts an abusive relationship in K's talk with her harasser. If you want to skip, the triggering material is in between the moment she runs until Aanya appears.**

 **Hugging, a new concept. We should do this more, don't y'all think?**

 **I'm sorry, I wished to give you all a overdose of sweetness, but my angry editor was branding their scissors at me. I really regret my life choices, and I promise this story is going uphill from here.**

 **SEE THE COVER ART? Please, appreciate this cool illustration Aikori drew to me. I love it too much s2 s2 s2 I'll display it proudly until my lazy ass make the one I planned months ago, hahaha**

 **Science Corner: According to SciShow Space - an amazing youtube channel, go check it out - "It's such a strong possibility that extraterrestrial life would use that [hydrogen] band, that using the frequency [1.420 megahertz] on earth is illegal under international law."**

 **Michiyo: When Hassan said, "It's my first time boarding a spacecraft" I meant it was his first time helping to dock an aircraft from inside the space station, not jumping in one. Sorry for the confusion!**


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